No More Broken Possibilities
by cityofsizzy
Summary: *MAJOR COHF SPOILERS* Isabelle and Simon try to fix what was left broken. As he begins to remember, their relationship becomes stronger than the two could have ever imagined and things for them might finally be looking up for a change. Post-CoHF; read if you ship sizzy and miss them. (includes malec & clace as well)
1. Remember This

***MAJOR CITY OF HEAVENLY FIRE SPOILERS UP AHEAD. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK* **

**just a heads up, this is in no way, shape, or form the sequeal for Everything Has Changed, as I said once before that it probably would not be out until Mid July, but I really wanted to write more sizzy, and since I have been, this is one of the many things I managed to come up with!**

**(longer Author's Note at the end)**

**enjoy!**

**...**

Isabelle leaned against a tall tree in Central Park, her fingers tapping mindlessly on the screen of her cell phone as she waited for Simon to arrive. Even though Magnus had agreed to help him with training, Isabelle wanted to be a part of it as well, and had invited Simon to the park for a head start. Now, she was wondering whether or not it had been a good idea as images of his 'new mundane self' kept popping into her head. _He doesn't even remember me._ She thought. _He doesn't remember us._

"Isabelle!" Simon's voice interrupted her thinking, and she snapped her head up to see him walking towards her. He looked like himself, but the healthy human glow and the glasses were some things that she would need to get used to. "Hey."

Isabelle unpeeled herself from the tree and shoved her phone into her pocket before allowing a tight smile to catch at her lips. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah." Simon was smiling back, real and genuine; her favorite smile. Crooked, with one side of his mouth pulling up before the other. It made Isabelle's heart contract and eyes water slightly, but she quickly shook it off and gestured for him to follow her.

Once they reached a small clearing with no one around, Isabelle turned around and began to put her hair up into a high ponytail. She felt Simon's eyes on her, and when she finished styling the long locks, he approached her a bit shyly and stuck a hand out to gently touch the ends. "You should keep it down. It's pretty." He said softly.

Isabelle's heart was fluttering in her chest, once again. She almost gave in and was reaching to tug her hair back down, but at the last moment, shook her head and frowned. "No, I don't want it to get in the way."

There seemed to be a flash of disappointment deep in his dark eyes for a moment, but Simon nodded with a sense of understanding and took a few steps back. "So, what are we starting with?"

**…**

A an hour and a half later, Simon was panting like what they had been doing was the most strenuous thing he had ever been through in his life, and Isabelle was peering at her nails nonchalantly, making sure they weren't cracked or anything.

"You wouldn't happen to have any water, would you?" Simon asked tiredly between large gasps of air. "I feel like all those drills you made me do are _meant _to knock me out."

Isabelle looked up from her hands and could not suppress the smile the crept onto her lips. He was lying in the grass, cheeks flushed, face shiny with sweat. His glasses were in his hand as he took his free one to wipe at his brow. It reminded her of the days when he was still a vampire, and they would talk about how he could no longer sweat or breathe...or have a beating heart. All of which were things that he had wanted back, but now he had them.

"Isabelle," He squinted his eyes at her, clearly struggling to see without his glasses, but obviously able to tell that she was was checking him out. "Quit staring at me."

She quickly looked away, feeling her cheeks burn with embarrassment. It was not the first time he had asked her to stop staring, but it was the first time since he was back and remembering.

"Are we done here?" Simon put his glasses back on, then stood up and started to brush the grass off of his clothing. "I would really like some coffee to get my energy levels back up so that my mother doesn't ask me why I'm sleeping so early when I get home."

Isabelle sighed, but hopped off of the bench she had been sitting on and held out her hand. "It was nice working with you today."

Simon narrowed his eyes at her, then her outstretched hand, his arms still and unmoving by his sides. "Are you serious?"

Isabelle frowned, deeper this time. _Stubborn, as always._ She thought to herself. "What? It's a handshake; you _shake _my hand-"

He crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. "I don't want to shake your hand."

"Then, don't shake it." Isabelle snapped, hurt mixing up her features as she pulled her hand back.

"No, it's just that I was hoping for something more." Simon confessed, more red filling in his cheeks.

Isabelle did not let up her now sour attitude, even though he seemed to be opening up to her more. "What do you expect me to do? Make out with you?"

Simon laughed, all traces of his uncomfort apparently evaporated into thin air. "Yeah, maybe." He said sarcastically.

Isabelle did not find this funny. She was trying so hard to be serious, to try and bring him back, but he was only joking around, making things harder. It was difficult to not wrap her arms around him and bury herself in his scent, his familiar 'warmth' that made her feel safe and sound. Some things that she used to feel comfortable doing around him now, probably would have sounded or seemed creepy to him because of his lost memories, but she couldn't help it. She wanted him back. Badly.

"We're saying goodbye, Simon, and for now, you can continue your training with Magnus." It pained her to say those words to him, and she knew that he could tell. The stupid smirk slipped right off of his lips and he tried to grab her arm, to stop her from leaving, but she turned anyway, wrenching her arm away for good.

Simon stumbled in front of her, accidentally tripping over his own feet and sending himself sprawling on the grass. Isabelle, having not noticed his poor clumsiness, tripped on his legs and landed right on top of him. "Hey…" He smiled crookedly at her again. "This feels familiar."

A spark of hope began to flicker in Isabelle's stomach and she widened her eyes at him as tears started to blur her vision. "What about this do you remember?" She adjusted herself over him, so that she was in a more comfortable position for both of them.

"I remember feeling uncertain at first, but once you started to kiss me...I got more confident, and you let me come closer. I remember you warming me, even though I didn't get cold, and something coppery in my mouth that instantly made me feel better...something that I always felt I wanted-needed from you." He reached up and tugged at her hair tie so that the long, dark strands hung around them like a soft, velvet curtain. "I remember running my hands through something softer than silk, and always looking into dark, dark eyes, knowing that the owner of those eyes cared a lot about me."

Isabelle almost felt like she could cry with both joy and sadness. Of course he had not remembered everything yet, but this was a good start. Perhaps even a _great_ start. "I still care about you. I always have."

"Yes, and even though I don't completely remember everything, I feel that every time I go near you, I have some sort of aching, like I'm missing something I have grown to love so deeply." He placed a hand on her cheek, wiping away a fallen tear. "The first thing I thought when I saw you yesterday, was how beautiful you are, and how you're the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my life. But in my dreams of you, your laughter is what made me feel the most alive, and just being with you."

Isabelle wanted to stop crying-she hated showing raw emotions like this, but suddenly, she realized, it was Simon. This was Simon. Her Simon. The one who told her that he loved her and the one that she loved spending time with. He was someone who had found his way into her heart and settled there. "You know how I said that I might let you try to be that guy again? The hero who earned the ability to kiss me?" She breathed. Her knees were on either side of his hips, and her hands were snaking up to his chest, pausing as she waited for his answer.

Simon nodded, mesmerized by her reaction to his words, which obviously meant quite a lot to her.

"You've been proving yourself, Simon. And even if you don't remember being a hero, or doing those things, you're still Simon, the sarcastic geek I fell in love with in the first place." Isabelle felt his hands move across the small of her back, pressing her closer to his body.

"And you're a heartbreaker, Iz. Someone who may or may not break my heart. But I'm still willing to try and get you fall in love with me all over again."

Isabelle's heart was pounding in her chest as she leaned forward, completely aware of the fact that her hair was somewhat in the way. "Simon…" She whispered, her lips barely a centimeter away from his. "I never fell out of love with you."

He reached up then, to cup her face the way he used to, and bring her lips down on top of his. The moment was ruined by her hair, which got in the way, and had them both spluttering it out of their mouths, Simon laughing lightly.

"I told you, it would get in the way." Izzy mumbled, trying desperately to sweep it out of her face. Simon gently brushed her hand back and moved the soft strands for her, letting his fingertips linger over her smooth cheekbone.

"Nothing will get in the way of us ever again. At least, I won't _let_ anything get between us." Simon said firmly. However, his next words were soft and promising, "I promise."

Isabelle let herself smile and this time it was real, sweet and gentle, lighting up her whole face, making it seem even prettier than before. If that was possible. "I don't usually let guys promise me things, or let myself promise things to guys, but because it's you...I promise too."

Finally, when their lips met for the first time in months, it was full of a passion and love so great, they were both lost in each other for a long moment, as if this kiss was the oxygen that they had both been deprived of for all that time, and they were finally, _finally_ breathing.

**...**

**YAYYAYYAYYAYYAY  
****SIZZY FEELS EVERYWHERE!**

**So, yeah, this is a oneshot, but if you REALLY want it to not be a oneshot, I will continue it once I get back from camp in July because my other story (Everything Has Changed) is very, very incorrect in terms of the events that happened during City of Heavenly Fire. **

***laughs nervously* I'd love to hear what you thought about this! I really, really, enjoyed writing it, mostly because it was what I really wanted for sizzy. For them to be close again, and for Izzy to feel happy again because SIMON IS REMEMBERING.**

**PLEASE, please leave a review, and I'm sorry if this was disappointing to you, but I will try and take your criticism into consideration for whatever I write next!**

THANKS FOR READING!

**-H.**


	2. Crash and Break Down

**Sorry it took so long for this, but I was away for a month and I wasn't able to post…**

**Here is a new chapter (as highly requested), sorry if it is confusing in any way...**

**Thank you for being so interested in my story! It's really fun to write it, so I'm glad that I can.**

**Enjoy chapter two!**

**...**

Magnus was a good teacher, but Isabelle was even better. She would teach him how to fight and reward him with a kiss, sometimes on the cheek, depending on how badly he performed the skill. He had issues keeping up with Magnus because the warlock moved so quickly and would frown disapprovingly if anything was done incorrectly, sometimes zapping him with sparkling, blue finger tips. Simon never really wanted to join Magnus for his shadowhunter lessons, mainly because Izzy's were much more fun, having involved flirting, laughing, kissing, some learning, oh, and did he mention kissing?

That's what they were doing now, in Simon's apartment, except Simon's phone kept buzzing in his pocket, disturbing the moment. He tried to convince Izzy that it was nothing, but the caller was obviously very persistent because they had called four times in the last five minutes.

Izzy groaned against his lips when the phone went off again, and she pulled away, much to his dismay, to dig his phone out of his pocket and answer it. "Why is Magnus calling you?" She demanded. Her lips were slightly swollen from the pressure of Simon's lips on hers, and her cheeks a little bit flushed, but the smile and pleasure that had smoothed her expression just a few moments ago, was now replaced with edgy suspicion.

Simon's stomach did a flip and he gulped nervously. "I may or may not have forgotten about training today..."

Izzy shoved him off of her and stood up, shrugging her jacket on. "Simon, I'll take you to his apartment; get your coat."

He shook his head. "No, let's stay here. We were having a good time, and I'm sure Magnus won't mind if I miss one session. Right?"

"Wrong." Izzy snapped back. "You promised me you wouldn't let anything come between us and if you can't become a shadowhunter because you slacked off during training, I will murder you."

Simon sighed, running a hand through his hair tiredly. "Well, since it means this much to you-"

"It means a lot to me, Simon, because I-" She stopped short, as if just then realizing that something bad had slipped out. Her eyes were wide and cheeks a little red, and she kept looking away from Simon's eyes whenever they made eye contact.

"You love me?" Simon stood up and tried to grab her hands, but she shied away. "What's wrong?"

Izzy wrapped her arms around herself and sighed heavily. When she looked up at Simon, he saw an angry fire making her eyes burn, dark and dangerous, pointing directly at him. He knew Izzy-well, a few of her major personality traits-but he didn't truly _know _Isabelle Lightwood. The way she sometimes acted towards him made him think that perhaps he once did, but now, he wasn't so sure whether she was upset with herself, or with him. Three months ago, when he 'first' met her, he had thought that she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his life, yet there was something about her voice and the way that she said his name that made him feel as if he had known her once before. After being with Isabelle and her brothers and Clary and Magnus over the past few months, he was able to understand more about his forgotten past and his relationships with all of them. However, Simon was not fully certain of it because he had not totally recalled each little detail. How was he supposed to find out if ascension will fix his memories and set things straight again? As far as he knows, this has never been the case with anyone else who has ascended.

"Isabelle." Simon tried again with her, careful to keep his hands by his sides, and voice steady and calming. "Please talk to me."

Isabelle bit her lip, and as her arms unwrapped themselves from her torso, he saw them move back down to her side and clench into shaking fists. Although everything about her body language screamed 'immense fury', the fire in her eyes died, and their usual sharp concentrated look returned, without any bitterness mixed in. "I'm fine. And no...I don't love…"

Simon was more confused, rather than hurt by what she was trying to say. She doesn't love him? But she told them during their first training session together that she never fell out of love with him. Although...the realization struck him in his chest, hard and cold. Isabelle had never mentioned their relationship status again after that, or told him that she loved him. It seemed like an Isabelle thing to do. Multiple times, he was able to sense that she wasn't a person who admitted her feelings easily, if at all. Simon didn't really have an issue with that. Taking things slowly after what had happened to him and their previous relationship made complete sense, yet going against what was there before made no sense. What happens happens, but if Isabelle kept telling herself that she didn't love Simon, he was going to wonder if ascension was the right answer when he just might be stumbling into a questionable relationship.

"You don't have to say anything; never mind whatever it was that set you off. I'll go to my lesson." Simon grabbed his jacket, then his phone and as he was passing Isabelle, leaned over to kiss her softly on the cheek. "See you later, I guess."

**...**

By the end of Magnus's lesson, Simon's head was pounding painfully, and he wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep off the worries that the day had brought. The entire time, he could not stop thinking about Isabelle and how he had left her in his apartment without any confirmation on how things would pick up from there. The thought of just going home and trying to stay away from all the romance drama and the shadowhunter business brought calm over his body. Any excuse to stay away from the Institute, which is where Isabelle would surely be, was welcome, but unfortunately for him, Alec had been in the apartment the entire time, watching, and offered Simon a ride to there, where Clary and Jace were meeting him to have some weapons in combat practice. Simon wanted desperately to refuse, but the more he thought about training, the more he thought about Isabelle, and how they needed to fix things between themselves. Surely, she would be at her home, so he kindly took Alec up on the offer and was on his way to the Institute before he could change his mind.

**...**

Simon felt like he was teetering on the edge of something dangerous. The world around him was so dark that if he had closed his eyes, it would have made no difference in his vision whatsoever. There were two choices he could make: either go with Isabelle and her shadowhunter friends and strive to be one himself, or make the safer choice -though admittedly more boring- to stay with his friends and family that he actually remembered and could trust. Not that he didn't entirely trust Isabelle. What she said makes sense, and being around her aroused a deep longing and lust within him that he cannot quite recall. But even with all the signs and feelings pointing towards ascension, it still seemed wrong for him to just leave his family for people and relationships he couldn't even remember. Things were starting to close in on Simon as his training drew to an end and he felt as though the decisions were choking him and sparking every nerve in his body with anxiety-

"Simon!" Clary shouted, startling him out of his thoughts and back into consciousness. He blinked to see three pairs of worried eyes staring right back at him: one green, one tawny and one blue. Alec, Jace and Clary. The redhead looked extremely distraught with her eyebrows pinched together and cheeks flushed slightly red. "You just fell down! Are you okay?"

Simon blinked again and when his eyes opened to survey his surroundings, he noticed that the tall walls of the institute stretched up around the four of them and a large blue mat underneath. They were in the training room. The last thing he remembered was trying to pinpoint the tip of a dagger in the dummy all the way across the room before the air around him began to shimmer and the floor beneath started to sway. Now, black spots were fading away at the edge of his vision as he struggled to sit up and reassure his concerned friends.

"I'm fine." Simon said, though his voice was shaking.

Jace and Clary both helped him stand up while Alec left the room for a brief moment, only to return with a cold glass of water, "Drink up. It should help calm your nerves."

He gratefully took the cup and gulped about half of it down, instantly noticing his senses sharpen and head clear as the cool liquid swarmed throughout his body.

However, even after he finished drinking, the three other beings beside him continued exchanging worried glances between each other, sharing unsaid words and thoughts that he could not quite decipher.

"What?" Simon asked, setting the cup down on a large wooden table that held newly sharpener daggers. One of them was missing, and glancing down, he could see it laying on the mat a couple of feet away. _Probably skidded a little bit after I dropped it when I...passed out? _

Jace was the first to speak after a moment of silence, "How have you been sleeping, Simon? I mean, since you have started the training."

Simon knew they were catching on to him; how could they not? There were bags under his eyes and a certain jumpiness to him that had not been there before he met them. He opened his mouth to say 'I'm fine', but Jace could apparently see the lie in his eyes before it had even been spoken.

"Don't lie."

Simon pursed his lips and began to grind his teeth in frustration. "No."

Clary let out a small gasp and went to cover her mouth with her hand and shook her head sadly. "Are we working you too hard?"

Jace wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed, gently trying to coax her into a calmer state.

"No, it's not the training-"

Alec interrupted, his eyes wide and accusing, "Is it us?"

"Or you guys." Simon continued without stopping, slightly irritated with the interjection. He took a deep breath and raked his hand through his hair, blowing out hot air as the soft curls rolled between his fingers. "I'm just not sure if I…"

Clary stepped away from Jace and towards Simon, her eyes crinkling with confusion. "You're not sure if you what?" She asked.

"Spit it out, Mundie." Alec hurried him on, none too kindly.

Simon swallowed, gulping down his pride and confidence as well. He didn't really know how he could put what he was about to say in words that wouldn't entirely ruin them. It was so obvious that they wanted him to be one of them as well, but it was hard to want it as much as them when he couldn't even recall what made them all such a close knit group. Sure, Clary, Magnus and Isabelle had all explained how he was a vampire and he had saved people and killed enemies and been a great friend and...boyfriend. Although he got strange feelings around them, it was hard to pinpoint them and feel certain about everything that they did. Now, as he prepared to see crushed faces, not to mention feelings, he thought about how much of their time he would have wasted if he backed out now. The day he was scheduled for ascension was not far at all-only one more week-and he still had to say goodbye to all of his 'outer' friends and his family with a made up story on what he was going to be doing and where he was going. He would never be able to see them again.

"I'm having second thoughts." Simon said quietly.

Just as he had expected, Jace's eyes hardened when Clary gasped and began to cry a little bit. Her hands came up to cover her face and when they moved away again, her eyes were ringed with red and cheeks were glistening with tears.

Just those four words were able to make Clary feel as heartbroken as she looked. It made Simon realize what a terrible mistake he was making, and just how truly he had been loved by all of these people he felt like he had only just met, and how much they wanted him back.

"I don't mean to upset you guys, it's just hard. I'll have to leave my family in a little bit and I'm not sure if I'm making the right choice by leaving behind all that they've done for me to step into something that I'm not even capable of remembering I was a part of."

Alec pursed his lips for a moment, as if he was trying to bite back something he wanted to say, but is not sure he should say it. After a moment's pause, he speaks up, "Isabelle would be devastated to hear that."

Simon felt his temper slip, and before he could prevent it, words began to spill from his mouth that expressed all of the feelings he had not been able to let over over the last few weeks, "Not everything is about Isabelle-or you guys for that matter. I have feelings too, and I think that for once, you should stop thinking about how much happier you all will be once I ascend and start thinking about whether or not I should be allowed to decide if I want to leave my family and friends for a bunch of people I can't remember risking my life for!" He was breathing hard by the time he was done shouting at them, and didn't even think twice about the shock or hurt in any of their features.

An oddly electric sound reverberated throughout the room as something feel to the floor a little ways away. They all looked up to see Isabelle standing in the doorway with her whip laying in a tangled heap at her feet. Her face looked stark white, and her eyes were shining. With tears? Once again, Simon couldn't tell what the person he was 'supposed' to be in love with was thinking.

She made no attempt to move inside of the room or pick up her whip. Instead, Isabelle firmly placed both of her hands on the doorframe, as if to steady herself, even though there were no visible signs of her shaking. "You don't want this, Simon?" Her voice was small and quivering, laced with disbelief and pain.

Simon felt a storm coming on. Things were about to blow up in his face. "No, that't not what I said. You don't get it-"

Isabelle finally ventured into the room, marching towards with remarkable speed for the tall, leather boots she was wearing. "I do get it. You're the one who doesn't. You're the one who doesn't understand that once you ascend you will have your memories back, and you will no longer be cursed. You just don't believe us. You don't believe me. You don't _trust _me. You're going to give up on us again, and just walk out like you did the first time-"

Clary stepped in, anger now blazing in her eyes and replacing the hurt that was there before, "That's not what happened, Iz. You can't think about it that way. He sacrificed himself for us-"

"STOP SAYING THAT." Isabelle shrieked. She was crying now, out of frustration and exhaustion with trying to make things right. "He did not just sacrifice himself, he sacrificed our love. You guys all got to go off and be happy with each other, but then there was me, sad and alone. Sure, we got to live-in pain. But was that really better than dying?"

Alec and Jace started talking over each other, in an attempt to calm her, but she was having none of it. Simon just stood there and took the lashings, already too steamed and tired to really fight back.

"I know that all is well because we are alive and Simon can ascend and I should be grateful. But," She folded her arms over her chest and smiled dryly at him. "He doesn't want to ascend."

The door was slammed and she was gone in under three seconds. All Simon could think about how much he had screwed up and how maybe Isabelle was right about him walking out again. She didn't seem like the kind of girl who would give out chance after chance. What if there was no going back to her this time, and he had one less reason to be a shadowhunter because of that? Simon thought that this would make his choosing easier, but to his misfortune, he only found things much harder to choose between. He knew that letting her go would only make him think about her and miss her more, but becoming a shadowhunter would allow him another chance, even if it wasn't given entirely by her.

All he could do about that is take it and be grateful.

That's what Isabelle had been talking about: being grateful for what was given to her. Even then, she hadn't been happy.

**…**

**I hope you enjoyed it!**

**More might be up by Friday, if not, then sooner!**

**thanks for reading! be sure to drop a quick review, even if it's just to say 'hi'**

**Until next time,**

**-H.**


	3. Winged Cupid Painted Blind

**Sorry this took forever!**

**But I hope you like this chapter and are able to read through all the cheese :P**

**longer A.N. at the end…**

**Enjoy :)**

**...**

"_There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment." _

**-Sarah Dessen**

**...**

Isabelle wasn't there.

The first thing Simon noticed about the party was that Isabelle was not there. The one person he had ascended for did not show up to celebrate with him. Well, in her defense, he may have said some things that really hurt her the last time the spoke. But truthfully, Simon had never felt this badly about anything in his life. He knew how much this meant to her, and the fact that she did not show up for either the actually ascension process or the party was pretty obvious that she was extremely upset by their last quarrel.

Soft music drifted through the Institute's hallways as Simon left the huge party and went to find Isabelle's bedroom. He had told Clary to not worry about him; he was just getting some fresh air before he really got into the celebration. It wasn't entirely a lie. He would feel like he was turning over a new leaf and breathing okay once he settled things with Isabelle. If only he could find her room. There were too many rooms in the huge building. A dark shadow crept around his ankles and it wasn't until he stepped closer to one of the torch lit walls did he see the furry cat, "Church." Simon breathed with relief. He knew that demons couldn't possibly enter the Institute, but that didn't stop him from wondering what other creatures might be lurking around the shadowed hallways…

"Can you take me to Isabelle?"

The cat sat down and lazily began to lick his paw and then swipe it over his ears.

Simon groaned. "Come on, cat. I need to speak with her. It's important." He shook his head and chuckled at how crazy he must've sounded, talking to a cat like that. Then again, Church wasn't necessarily your average cat.

Suddenly Church sat up and shook out his coat, puffing it up as if he were trying to seem insulted. He slowly ambled down the hallway, Simon following after quietly, afraid to disturb the eerie silence. There were so many doors to even more rooms; how could this cat possibly have any idea where to go-

"Simon." Her voice was strained and barely above a whisper, but he heard it as if it were the most important sound to his ears. Simon followed the sound of her voice until he came to a door opened just a crack so that a sliver of soft light filtered into the otherwise dark hallway.

"Isabelle." He said when he had pushed open the door and found her lying on the stone floor in front of a fireplace blazing with crackling fire.

Her head snapped around and suddenly her eyes were on his, wide and dark. The reflection of the fire before her burned in the dark orbs, only making their appearance seem even more deadly. Something about the way she was positioned, a throw pillow clutched to her chest and her back curved over the item, knobs of her spine sticking out under her loose, white tanktop. She looked feeble and delicate, like she hadn't been eating or sleeping, but doing this instead. Her cheeks were hollow and there was a look of complete lostness to her expression that he felt like he never should have seen on her, but could just barely recall-

"Max." Simon breathed under his breath. Isabelle seemed to have heard because he turned away and her body began to shake violently with each wretched sob. He saw the faded little toy soldier in her hands, squeezed between the pillow and her chest. _Max_. _A year ago from today..._ A voice whispered in side his head. His own voice. Telling him. Reminding him. "It wasn't your fault." He walked further into the room until he was right behind her and then sat down, his shoulder merely inches away from brushing against hers.

She turned her face back to his, looking at him through red rimmed, teary eyes that made his heart flutter painfully in his chest. "You remember him?"

"Your brother? Yeah. I've never seen you so upset like this before, so I assumed it had something to do with him. Well...except for that one night when he...when Sebastian..."

Isabelle's eyes snapped shut and she turned away from him again. "It was almost as bad when you were gone. Every day for five months, I could not stop comparing my loss of you to my loss of Max. The thing is with Max's death...I knew he was gone and there was nothing I could do about it. I could grieve, and eventually I would be able to cope with just the memories of him. But with you gone…" Isabelle's voice cracked. "Five months. Five months of tears and sleepless nights. Dreams of you when I did get sleep, only to end with me waking up, screaming at you to stay with me. Five months of knowing you were out there, knowing that you had no recollection of telling me that you loved me. Knowing that you had no memory of who I was. No idea who Isabelle Lightwood was." She was crying now, hot tears were rolling down her cheeks like a stream, cracking her porcelain face and shattering her even more than she already was.

Simon felt something in him snap and he leaned forward to wrap his arms around her and pull her into his lap. The pillow and soldier dropped from her hands as she responded to his touch and molded to his body. Her head rested in the juncture between his collar bones and shoulder while her hands found their way under his suit jacket and over his back. "I never forgot you, Isabelle. Maybe your name and what you stood for, but never you. I still dreamed about you. My soul held onto what it wanted back before we got separated, and now, it refuses to let go of you."

Isabelle's cries softened, getting more and more silent until she was only sniffling between her words. "That's what you told me once. That there were things our souls wanted. I think I discovered mine wanted you the night that Max...died and you held me in your arms all night. That's when I realized I loved you."

Simon smiled into her hair and breathed in the familiar scent of her tears and gardenia perfume. "I feel like you never told me that before, you know."

Izzy nodded and adjusted herself in his arms so that she was facing him, her lips only centimeters away from his. "I didn't. It was something I always kept to myself." She breathed in, her upper teeth digging into her lower lip. "I also never told you that I loved you."

Simon's expression faded into puzzlement. "If I told you I loved you, what did you say back?"

"You told me not to say 'I love you' unless I meant it, so instead of saying 'I love you', I said 'I mean it.'" She shook her head and looked up at the tall ceiling, obviously trying to keep back more tears. "I regretted it the moment I realized that you were going to be taken away from me. I felt like I had wasted my only and _last _time to say those three words to someone who I really and truly loved."

Simon was silent. He didn't want to say something stupid like: "I'm here now; you can still say it." He wanted it to come out when she was ready and when the moment was right. No pressure for either of them.

To his own heart's dismay, the next words out of her mouth were not the ones he wanted to hear, "You should go back down to your party. I'm sure everyone is wondering where the center of all their attention is." Isabelle climbed out of his lap, then picked up the pillow and tiny soldier before standing up and reaching her hand out to Simon. He took hers, noticing that it was cold and clammy against his, damp around the edges where she had wiped her tears.

"What about you?" Simon asked, wondering whether or not she would join the celebration.

"I'm tired. I don't really feel happy enough to pretend to be happy around people who actually are happy." Izzy leaned in quickly, and before Simon knew what she was doing, her lips had brushed his cheekbone and he felt a shock at the simple touch, that traveled through the rest of his body and lit his veins on fire. Woah. That had never happened before. "Thanks for making me feel better. Go have fun."

He stared after her as she climbed into the only bed in the room and made herself comfortable. "Izzy, I'm-"

"Simon, _go_." Isabelle growled, her voice muffled under the layer of covers.

_**...**_

"Where have you been? The party is over in like thirty minutes. You missed, like, all of it!" Clary exclaimed upon seeing Simon again in the buzzing ballroom. The party was not small; hundreds of people were there: shadowhunters, members of the consul. He only knew about eight or ten people there in total. The rest were total strangers. However, there had been other newly ascended shadowhunters who were sharing this experience as well, so there must've been some of their family members there as well. The word 'family' made his heart skip a beat in his chest everytime he heard it or thought about it. It wasn't easy leaving his family, he knew that. But it was going to be even harder not seeing them ever again. Luckily, for him, Luke and Jocelyn had decided Simon as their adoptive son, and let him chose the last name 'Fairchild' as his own during ascension. The thoughts of spending more time with Clary and catching up with her brought him more joy, and he was able to appreciate the party a whole lot more.

"Angel above, where do you think they got all the glitter from?" Clary asked Simon while trying to sweep the sparkling substance off of her dress and out of her hair. An unrelenting glitter rain had been falling from the ceiling since the party began, and there seemed to be a thick coat of the stuff on and in everything but the edibles and drinkables.

"The one and only Magnus Bane, of course." Jace said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Alec and Magnus appeared out of nowhere-literally-blocking the trio along their way to the stage. "There you are, Simon!" Magnus said cheerfully, clapping him on the shoulder. When his hand came away, his entire palm was covered with glitter. "Alexander!" He shouted, pulling his boyfriend close to him so that he could get a close look at his hand. "We are doing this at the wedding. I can picture it now," He made a square with both of his hands up in front of him, "Glitter, glitter, everywhere."

Alec looked sideways at the warlock, seemingly either about to slap him or burst out laughing. Neither happened. He just kept looking, narrowing his eyes suspiciously, "I feel like even if I say 'no', you're going to do it anyway."

Magnus laughed. "If you say 'no', I will double the amount of glitter that rains down on us, and _only _us."

Clary glared at them both, looking about ready to punch them. "If you will excuse us," She gestured to herself, Simon and Jace impatiently, "we are trying to get somewhere."

"Well excuse you, then." Magnus retorted as he grabbed Alec and whisked him back into the crowd of other celebrating shadowhunters.

_**...**_

The music was deafeningly loud when the three of them finally made it to the stage. It wasn't even good music; it was terrible waltzing music that only the adults seemed to be enjoying. Eventually, Jace got bored of standing around listening to Simon and Clary converse and decided to steal her for a dance to put the bad music to good use. Now, Simon stood by himself, watching over the party glumly, wishing he could go back to his own bed. When Clary found him after he got back from seeing Isabelle, she had told him that there were only thirty minutes left of the party. Surely, it had been at least an hour since then, so he thought, that maybe shadowhunters ended their celebrations when they felt like it.

"Umm...excuse me, everyone?" Someone was tapping the microphone, trying to get everyone's attention. The crowd settled down quickly and when Simon turned around to match the voice to the it's body, he was shocked by what he saw: it was Isabelle. Except, she looked different than how she had an hour ago. Way different. The short, shining, silver dress she was wearing hugged her curves and slender figure in all the right places, her hair was combed out into long, silky ringlets spilling over her shoulders and down her back. Her face was free of tears and pain. It seemed to be covered with the layers of makeup she was wearing and the slightly more pronounced expression of utter terror etched onto her nearly flawless features.

"I'm going to sing a song for someone who I love so, so much. More than I thought was possible, actually." Isabelle looked small and lonely on the stage, but she stood tall and clutched the microphone with strong hands. "It's called: 'All I Ever Wanted'."

" _Opened up my heart_

_Start to feel again_

_Take another step_

_Now I understand_

_All the time I waited_

_All my faded plans_

_Every single tragedy was leading up to_

_someone that loves me like you_

_In a world full of broken promises_

_You were my portrait of truth_

_And suddenly I confess_

_All I ever wanted_

_All I ever wanted_

_All I ever wanted_

_Was you_

_All I ever wanted_

_All I ever needed_

_All I ever needed_

_was you_

_It took a little pain_

_To find what I believe in_

_All I ever needed was you_

_Opened up my eyes_

_Finally I'm seeing it_

_All I ever wanted_

_All I ever needed_

_was you_

_I ignored the stars_

_Each and every day_

_Don't give them credit cause_

_All they ever did was bring me pain_

_Waited for a love_

_I didn't have a name_

_You could call me crazy_

_But it's all I had to keep me sane_

_And out of the darkness comes light_

_and I feel like I'm staring at the sun_

_The shadow we cast feels so right_

_It took so many wrongs to find the way_

_All I ever wanted_

_All I ever wanted_

_All I ever wanted_

_Was you_

_All I ever wanted_

_All I ever needed_

_All I ever needed_

_was you_

_It took a little pain_

_To find what I believe in_

_All I ever needed was you_

_Opened up my eyes_

_Finally I'm seein'_

_All I ever wanted_

_All I ever needed_

_was you_

_(All I needed...was you)_

_I played a part_

_Acting like I knew just who you are_

_Traded every day that I can love_

_Anyone but you_

_I played a part_

_Acting like it's written in the stars_

_Loneliness was killing me enough_

_I said I can't make it through_

_All I ever wanted_

_All I ever needed_

_It took a little pain_

_To find what I believe in_

_All I ever needed was you_

_Opened up my eyes_

_Finally I'm seeing it_

_All I ever wanted_

_All I ever needed_

_was you_

_I told his heart not to leave or lie_

_It took so long just to realize_

_All I ever needed was you "_

Applause erupted all around Simon, and he found himself clapping the loudest for her, standing up proudly, feeling all the emotions she sang into the lyrics. Her voice was so beautiful and serene, rolling over and through the lyrics like they were her own. In that moment, he could feel her love for him, he could see it reflecting in her beautiful, dark eyes, as she kept her gaze steady on his.

People were still clapping and cheering when Simon felt his feet moving towards the stage. He was running towards her and she was running for him. Surely they were going to collide in a painful mess of flesh and bones, but he caught her just in time. They embraced, and they were not a mess of flesh and bones, but a beautiful tangle of flesh and bones. The tangle was like the knot you tie at a wedding, symbolizing that you are one another's and shall be together until the day of death. However, it was not wedding vows that left their mouths as they whispered into each other's ears, it was promises,

"Simon, I am so, so sorry. Please forgive me for everything I said about you sacrificing us. It was brave, what you did. And you didn't sacrifice us, you saved us." Tears of joy collected in her eyes, and Simon raised his hands to wipe them away as soon as they fell. "Because you knew that the only way for you to really be with me and to have a family is if you were mortal. It wasn't just something that you wanted for yourself, but something that you wanted for me, too. Because-"

"I love you." He finished for her, smiling when she smiled through her own tears. "I love you, Isabelle Lightwood, and I promise that nothing else will ever come between us. You should never have to worry about needing to be forgiven by me ever again."

Izzy's eyes were still shining, but her smile was bigger than ever as she spoke her response, "I love you, too Simon. I've never been in love with someone this deeply, and as much as it scares me, I trust you as much as I love you. Nothing can, nor will anything _ever _amount to you and how you make me feel."

And right then and there, they kissed. In front of everyone. It wasn't just a peck, but a kiss involving the interplay of tongue and teeth, soft, but full of passion and love. Simon's hands were at her waist, fisting the fabric of her dress as much as he could and Isabelle's hands found their way into his hair, pulling and knotting her fingers in the soft curls. They weren't thinking about anything but how much they meant to each other, and how they didn't care that anyone saw. Because for Simon and Isabelle,

just for a moment,

it was only them in the room.

_**...**_

**I really hope you liked this chapter. To be honest, it was kind of a pain to write. I don't know why, but this is definitely my least favorite fanfiction I've written for sizzy, I think. I'm not sure why; maybe it's because it's not as happy as my other ones...I don't know.**

**Whatever, that doesn't matter.**

**The song I used: **_**All I Ever Wanted **_**by **_**Faith Hill**_

**This story will be updated once I update Stop and Stare, so, hopefully, soon :P**

**Please review!**

**Thanks for reading, and until next time,**

**-H.**


	4. Free From Tension

_**...**_

"I'm going to be sick." Simon said through clenched teeth. His stomach was indeed churning as he watched Isabelle reach her hand into the middle of their circle of friends to spin the bottle. He did not want any part of this twisted truth or dare game that she had suggested. Of course, Jace, Clary, Magnus and Alec had all decided to join in because it would not be fun with only two people. Well, apparently for Isabelle, the more people, the better dares. Knowing her, everybody was terrified of what would happen next.

"Simon, it's just a game. No one is going to be hurt; maybe just very embarrassed." Izzy attempted to assure him. She grabbed the bottle and spun it. To Simon's complete and utter dismay, it landed on him. "Okay, Simon." Izzy raised her eyebrows across the circle at him, "Truth or dare?"

Simon wasn't going to take the bait. He knew that she wanted him to pick dare, but he also knew that if he did, _shit _would go down. Isabelle Lightwood was not someone to trust when it came to games like this. Especially when she had been drinking.

"I don't understand what the point of this get together thing was, Iz. I thought it was just going to be me and you."

Isabelle laughed lightly, swaying a little as her shoulders shook. "It's the one month anniversary of you becoming a shadowhunter. Also, of our relationship. Our new relationship." Her words were slurred, and she sounded quite tired, but her eyes were still fierce and burning with excitement. "Truth or dare?"

He hesitated before answering, "Truth."

Clary leaned away from her conversation with Jace to listen in on what Isabelle was about to tell Simon. Alec remained knocked out cold against his boyfriend, too drunk to really care about anything.

"Of course. Seven rounds straight with all truths." Isabelle rocked back, looking up at the high ceiling of her bedroom as she thought. "Got it." She crawled closer to Simon and placed her hands on his knees. "If I were a food item, what would I be, and how would you eat me?"

Simon's eyes widened, but he did not let the strange question faze him. It was expected. From Isabelle, at least. "You would be a muffin or a biscuit. And I would butter you up, then rip your top off to eat the bottom first, and then continue to the top. Because the top is the best part." Well, that had come out a lot more sexual than he had intended. But...he did actually eat his biscuits and muffins that way.

"Damn, Simon. I didn't know you got down so dirty." Jace cackled.

Simon felt his cheeks burn as Clary and Magnus began to laugh as well. "Izzy, I meant that in a totally unsexual way." Simon started as Isabelle's lips curved into a seductive smile. But once she started, there really was no stopping her. She climbed into his lap, looked him straight in the eye and said,

"Love me now; _right now_." Her lips came crashing down onto his, soft but tasting like tequila. It wasn't the kind of kiss that he would have expected from her after receiving soft, intimate kisses during the whole month they were together, and nothing more than that except for some venturous touching.

His lips parted beneath hers and suddenly he had a lap full of Isabelle, and she was pushing him onto the floor, dominating in the process.

Clary and Jace took this as a time to exit the room-_quickly_. Magnus tried to wake Alec up in order to move him, but he woke up on his own (unfortunately) and screamed. _**Loudly**_. It was enough to jolt Simon out of his haze of lust for Isabelle, but she kept going, biting and at his neck and raking her nails across his middle and back.

"WHYWHYWHYWHYWHY?" Alec hollered, stumbling drunkenly to his feet. He leaned heavily against a wall and then Magnus and then

tripped over air and fell on top of Izzy and Simon.

"What the hell!" She shrieked, scrabbling around to shove her brother away.

Alec rolled off and then was still, the only thing indicating his life was his chest rising and falling slowly as he slumbered.

Magnus lifted him, shaking a little under his weight and left the room.

Isabelle crawled off of Simon and stood up, offering him her hand. "Let's go to bed."

"You and your brother are both so strange while drunk." Simon muttered as Izzy pulled him up.

"It's a Lightwood thing." She mumbled sleepily as she fell onto her bed, pulling Simon with her.

_**...**_

When Isabelle woke up early the next morning, Simon was gone. Of course he was. It's not like they shared a room.

Isabelle pushed back her blanket and raked her hands through her hair, removing the tangles from the black strands. The pale light shining through the high windows in her room made the scars on her hands glitter with an odd beauty that she'd always failed to accept. Scars weren't pretty. Of course as a shadowhunter, you are forced to accept them because fighting is what you do. But to Isabelle, scars were just a reminder at how she hadn't dodged her enemy fast enough, or how she hadn't trained well enough.

Sighing, she swung her legs over the edge of her bed and began walking over to the bathroom. In the mirror, her eyes were scrunched with sleep and her thick hair was trailing limply down her back. Why did guys like her? Her eyes were just a dark, dark brown; if you were close enough, you could see the flecks of gold that made them not black. Of course, Isabelle never let guys get too close to her because then they would try to find out about her and get with her which was not something she liked to do. Ever. Simon was different. He had found his way into her heart during a time when she had her barriers down, and he had stuck there. Nothing mattered anymore because in that moment, she realized that she wanted him to stay.

Isabelle turned the sink faucet on, and shivered as the cold water ran over her skin, and dripped down her neck. As sweaty as she got while training, there was no point in taking a shower now, just wash up. Izzy took a clip from a drawer and pulled her hair up in an awkward messy twist that left some strands hanging down on the side of her face.

A loud knocking at her door tore her gaze away from the mirror, and she left the bathroom to open it.

Simon. His brown hair was tousled, and he had on some light gear, like he was about to go training. Isabelle would have thought that he looked attractive, but the headache raging through her head was an indicator that she had partied too hard the previous night, and she wanted nothing more than to burrow under her sheets and sleep off her overuse of alcohol.

"What do you want?" She snapped more harshly than she had really intended.

Simon raised his brows, surprised by her hostility. "You're so unwelcoming."

"That's because you're not welcome; it's my room."

"That's funny because you seemed to welcome me comfortably last night-"

"I was drunk." She shot back defensively.

He looked at her briefly with curiosity dancing in his deep eyes, then leaned against the doorframe, smirking. "Think you could take me down?"

Isabelle scoffed, the pride of being a better shadowhunter than him overthrowing the pain of her hangover. She crossed her arms over her chest, smirking at him, "Any day."

Simon stood up straight and offered her his hand.

Isabelle's smirk dropped from her lips and she felt her hand tighten around the door knob. "What are you doing?"

"Let's go train."

"Do I have to hold your hand?"

Simon's cheeks turned a slight pink shade, but he held Isabelle's gaze steadily and dropped his arm back to his side. "It's a gentlemanly gesture, Isabelle."

Isabelle suddenly felt nausea clawing at her stomach, and she felt as if all the air had left her lungs. When she tried to breathe in, her throat clenched up, as her stomach churned, and last night's party began to creep up her esophagus. She started to close the door, as a gag rose in the back of her mouth, but Simon stuck his foot in the doorframe and glanced at her with a concerned glint in his eyes, "Are you okay? You're looking a little green-"

"I'm fine." Isabelle covered her mouth with her hands, and was just barely able to get out a few words before she ran for the bathroom, "Meet me in the kitchen!"

_**...**_

"I'm not sure you should drink that, Iz." Simon said while suspiciously watching his girlfriend raise a tall glass of thick, brownish slush to her lips. "What did you put in it, anyway?"

She placed the glass back on the kitchen counter and took a step away from it. "Umm, fruits, avocado, spinach, cinnamon, honey." Isabelle grinned at Simon, "_Raw_ honey."

Simon cringed as she listed the rest of the ingredients. The mixture definitely did not seem like something anybody would want to drink, not even if they were trying to sober up. He guessed that was the point-drunk people got themselves into strange situations and could not always sort things out. It only made sense that she would go ahead and drink it anyway.

"Are you sure that's not a recipe for getting through a hangover? Because being hung over and being drunk are two different things."

Isabelle said nothing and just lifted the glass to her lips, swallowing a surprisingly large gulp for a taste test. "Raziel." She gasped as she pulled the cup back. "That was so good. It tastes like apple pie!"

"What?" Simon looked doubtful, and he was extremely curious to know whether or not that statement was true. However, he did not want to drink the disgusting looking sludge.

Izzy pushed the mixture towards him, "Want a taste?"

Simon shrank back, not wanting the stuff near him. "Nope, I'm good. However, I do believe that if you want to be able to train today, we should go now." He pointed at the clock on the wall closest to them, "It's almost midday, and later on we have that thing with Magnus and Alec."

She frowned against her glass of sludge, "What thing?"

This time, it was Simon's turn to frown, "You didn't hear?"

"Hear what, Simon?" Isabelle placed the glass down on the counter, hard, as she was beginning to feel quite frustrated with his unnecessary stalling.

"They're getting married and taking over the Institute."

_**...**_

**I am so sorry this was so late, but I have been having writers' block, a lot of school work, plus there was a death in my family, and I'm so tired…**

**I'm going to finish this story, I promise, it's just that now that summer has ended, I don't have as much time anymore :(**

**I'll try and update ASAP, but unfortunately, there are no promises…**

**-H.**


	5. Playful Misbehavior

**Sorry it took me so long to update! I have just been so busy with school and outside of school things and it's only getting harder, so unfortunately, my updating will probably remain at a slow pace. Hopefully it won't take as long as this chapter did. The main reason why this took so long was because I lost what I had written, but I found it, so that's good!**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

_**...**_

"Live in such a way that even if given another opportunity to live your life all over again, you would still choose to live it exactly the same way that you are living your life now."

― William B. Girao

_**...**_

Isabelle's major shock caused her headache to disappear, if only for a quick moment. All of her other emotions and crappy feelings fell right off of her as the amazing news sunk in, "Why the hell did no one tell me?"

Simon shrugged, "I'm assuming they called you this morning, but you were still sleeping, so..."

_My big brother is getting married to the man of his dreams..._

Izzy smiled to herself as the thought of her brother's happiness finally being tied off with his one true love filled her with an surprising amount of elation. "I cannot wait to ask him for every juicy detail there is to squeeze out from the proposal!" She squealed excitedly. "What it was like, how they proposed, _who_ proposed-" Her sentence was cut off as a searing pain ripped through her head. Isabelle pressed her finger tips to her temple, wincing until it was over. "And who the hell did this to me!" She shouted.

Simon took a deep breath in and held it, trying not to laugh at how dramatic she was being. "May I remind you, that you got yourself drunk, Iz."

She glared at him, reaching for the almost half downed smoothie. "You better save your brains for our training session, Si, because otherwise, you will be the one getting creamed."

He scoffed, "Oh, I'm sure that will not be the case."

Izzy raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him, "Really? Because once I have my whip-"

"No whip. You don't use your whip, and I won't use a bow." Simon laughed, "You know I have fantastic aim."

"Oh, I know you do. And of course, we will only be using knives and our own bodies because otherwise I could kill you." She placed the now empty cup in the sink and wiped her hands on a kitchen towel draped over the edge, "I don't need another dead body on my hands."

"You're crazy." Simon chuckled, "You know that though, right?"

She flipped her hair over her shoulder and smiled wickedly at him, "No shit. But..." Isabelle walked her fingers up his arm, then across his chest and under his chin so that she could tip his face down closer to hers, "You like me that way...right?"

He placed one of his hands on the back of her neck and the other on her cheek, pulling her so close, their lips were only centimeters away from touching. "I would never have my Isabelle any other way."

Just as their lips touched, the sound of a footsteps tore them apart again, and they looked up to see Maryse standing before them, looking very stern with her hands on her hips and a frown set on her lips, "Isabelle Sophia Lightwood, what is this mess in here?" She said, pointing at the ingredients and blender that they had forgotten to put away.

Izzy shook her head and grabbed her boyfriend's hand, starting to pull him way from there. "It's nothing, Mom. I was just freshening up."

"By making a mess?" Maryse countered, "Raziel, help my children straighten themselves out before someone else gets hurt." She muttered under her breath. "Where are you two going?"

Simon dug his heels in just as they were about to exit, "We're going to go train." He said happily.

Maryse looked doubtful, and her piercing blue eyes dug into both her daughter's and Simon's as she said one last thing. "I better not hear any other sounds but training sounds." She smiled when the teenagers actually began to look quite fearful of the threat, "I'm just kidding; you two have fun. But not _too_ _much_ fun cause I'm not taking care of any babies."

_**...**_

Isabelle slashed at Simon with her knife, stepping forward so that she was prepared to drive it when he made his next move. Her knife missed his armored torso by a mere three centimeters, and just as she was grinding her teeth in frustrating, she felt an arm wrap around her waist and pull hard. The next thing she knew, the cool mat was underneath her back and Simon was on top of her, with his legs on either side of hers, the tip of his knife pushing into the hollow of her throat.  
His breathing was ragged was ragged and hard, but his lips pulled into a smirk when he saw Isabelle's look of defeat. "Huh. Looks like girl with the golden whip isn't as good as she thinks she is."  
Isabelle watched as Simon pressed his hands onto the floor, his knife pressing against the hard mat. He started to move backwards so that he was no longer hovering over her, but was still straddling her waist.  
"Or maybe Simon just caught her by surprise." Izzy spat out, annoyed by his calmness. Her brown hair was starting to tumble out if its ponytail and she tended a little bit when Simon reached forward to push the hair out of her eyes; they looked impossibly golden in the early morning light.  
"There are no such things as surprises. When you're a shadowhunter, you're supposed to be expecting anything that could possibly come your way." His breath was warm on her face, and during any of the usual circumstances, Isabelle would be taking control. But Simon seemed to be different apart from all those other guys she had dated before. So, she decided to test him.  
A devious smile spread across her lips as Simon leaned forward, "Weren't expecting this, were you?" Before he could ask what her words meant, Isabelle drove her knee up as hard as she could, making painful, jarring contact with his groin.  
Simon cried out in pain and rolled off of her, his hand coming up to cover his crotch. Isabelle leapt to her feet and huffed out an amused breath of air as she looked down at her fallen friend, who was now writhing on the floor. Her smile began to fade when she saw small tears squeezing out from the corners of his closed lids.  
"Oh shot." Izzy mumbled, realizing the actual amount of pain he was in. "I'll go get you some ice." Just as she was turning around to fetch some of the cold cubes, a hand wrapped around her ankle, making her jerk to an abrupt halt.  
"No. I'm fine."  
Izzy looked down at him, confused. "But you're-" She didn't have time to finish what she was saying because Simon's foot shot up and smashed against her chest, sending her flipping over him. Years of heavy training resulted in her rolling into a crouch and whipping her head up as Simon grabbed his knife from the floor and stood in front of her.  
Isabelle shot an arm out as if to trip him, but he was expecting this, so she moved forward and then rolled to the side at the last moment, ending in a low fighting stance with her knife poised in front of her.  
"Trickery." Simon smirked. He didn't seem so injured anymore. Hell, he had probably faked it to begin with.  
"You are such a faker." Izzy said, glaring at him.  
Simeon's smile widened and he took a small step forward, knife raised. "I got you to show your soft side."  
"I have no soft side." She snapped and then lunged forward, knife stretched in front of her. This time, she was fast enough and a small rip sounded throughout the large room as her knife tore through the fabric of his shirt that was exposed on his side. "Gotcha!" She breathed out gruffly. But Izzy didn't let the small victory hold her still for very long; her enemy was still standing.  
"Barely." The words just managed to escape Simon's mouth before he took a massive step forward and brought his weapon down in an arch across Izzy's stomach. She started to jump forward when she saw what move he was making, but it was too late.  
A searing pain exploded from where Simon's knife had made contact and Isabelle stumbled backward, falling onto her back again. She raised her hand to her shirt front and pressed it against the fabric. Her palm came away, stained red. The emerald green shirt she was wearing was already beginning to darken with blood as it blossomed from the new wound.  
Simon's smirk vanished and was replaced with an alarmed expression as he bent down to kneel beside her. "Shit, is that blood?"  
Izzy rolled her eyes and glared at him, "No, I had ketchup under my shirt so that when you stabbed me, it only looked like I was bleeding." Her glare softened when she saw genuine concern flashing in his gray eyes. "You're smarter than that, Simon."  
He nodded and then wrapped his hands around her wrists so that he could help her up. Izzy winced in the process, but she didn't let the pain show on her face. Once they were standing, Simon slipped an arm around her waist as of to help her, and to his surprise, she leaned into him, grateful for his support.  
"My stele," She whispered, pointing at her boots. "it's in my boot."  
Simon bent down to grab her stele and was on his knees, with his hand still on her waist.  
"Do you remember how to draw-"  
"An iratze?" He smiled warmly, "Or course, I do." His hand pushed up her shirt until her flat stomach was exposed. Simon had to admit, even though he had only seen her naked once, he still had every curve and crevice of her body memorized, and he couldn't help by run his hands over her back and waist before he began to draw the healing rune. The cut wasn't so deep; just a surface wound, but the bleeding hadn't stopped quite yet. There was blood smeared all over, but Simon just took the sleeve of his shirt and wiped the lot of it away as soon as the rune was finished.  
She sighed as the burning sensation runes normally gave her spread throughout her core, numbing the pain until the skin was closed again. "You are so good at that."  
Simon smiled and pulled her closer to him so that he could stand up and press his lips to her collarbone. "You know everyone thinks we slept together last night." He whispered against her neck.  
Her eyes were closed, but there was still the ghost of a smile on her lips. "We _did_ sleep together."  
"No, I mean...you know..." Simon blushed, grateful she wasn't looking right then to see. "Did the deed."  
Isabelle tucked her head into the juncture between Simon's chin and collarbones, "I'm never going to have sex with you if you can't even say the word, sex."  
"But, you don't have to actually say it when we have...sex, right?"  
Isabelle frowned, "No, but how else are you going to ask me?"  
"Umm...you me...in your bed, now...?" Simon said lamely.  
"Okay!" Izzy chirped, backing away from him and starting to pull him out of the training room.  
Simon's eyes widened with surprise, "Are you serious?"  
"No!" She turned around and smacked him upside the head, "You are such a virgin."  
He rubbed the now sore spot and grimaced, "I'm sorry," his hands went around her waist again and pulled her towards him so that they were pressed together, "_I am just so goddamn in love with you_."  
_**...**_

_**sorry it's so short!**_

_**I just wanted things to be a bit more normal before they started picking up again.**_

_**Anyway, I really hope you liked this chapter because believe it or not, it actually took me forever to write.**_

_**Thanks for reading!**_

_**-h.**_


	6. Lighthearted Pleasure

**So sorry this took forever, but it was pretty fun to write, so I hope it's fun for you to read!**

_**...**_

_**"**__**So, have a little fun. Soon enough you'll be dead and burning in Hell with the rest of your family."**___

_**― **__**George Carlin**__**, **__**Brain Droppings**_

_**...**_

"I remember that." Simon breathed shakily as Isabelle's lips traveled down his neck, nipping at the soft skin. He groaned loudly when she went down on him even further, smiling as he squirmed beneath her. "Oh God, I remember this, too."

Isabelle brought her face up to meet his, sitting back on his hips with her hands pressed to his chest. "How can you remember when we never did this before you lost your memories?"

He laughed throatily, blushing slightly at his mistake made upon being overcome with list. "Clearly, I just have a very vivid imagination."

Isabelle bit her lip as she thought, not about what they were currently discussing, but something that had been irking her for a few weeks. "Hey, Si?" She asked, getting off of him.

He groaned with disappointment when he realized they had only made out, not going any further. "Ye?"

"Can we go out? Like, on a date?" Her eyes were bright with excitement, but Simon couldn't really stay focused on them because his own gaze kept drifting down to her hands, which were idly buttoning up her blouse.

"We have already gone on dates...haven't we?"

She sighed, sitting up beside him. "Going out with my brothers and their girlfriend and boyfriend doesn't count. I just want some normal time with you."

Simon finally looked at her face, so full of longing and anticipation. Isabelle freaking Lightwood was his girlfriend. Who in their right mind would refuse anything to her and screw things up? Not Simon, that was for sure. Just as he was about to say yes, she climbed on top of him again and started kissing his neck and collarbones again, "_Please_, Si?" Izzy breathed out between kisses.

"Alright." Simon pushed himself up so that he was sitting with his back to the headboard of Isabelle's bed and her in his lap, "What do we do now?"

She reached for her phone on the nightstand next to him, checking the time. "We have an hour before we need to be at the...brunch with everyone."

He smirked and pulled her even closer to him, "An hour to..._mess around_?"

She rolled her eyes, but before getting off of him, gave him one last, lingering kiss on his jaw. "It normally takes me like an hour to get ready for events like these, so how about we keep you a little frustrated for just a tad bit longer, okay? Okay."

_**...**_

After taking forty five minutes to do her hair and makeup, Isabelle took another ten minutes to pick out an outfit, finally deciding on a short creme dress that brightened her features and didn't make her skin look too pale.

Simon had been waiting in the kitchen for a good half hour after he freshened up, was continuously texting Izzy to hurry up.

"Honestly, you need to work on your patience if you're going to live with me." She grumbled as she stalked into the kitchen on tall, white heels.

Simon hadn't seem her looking that good since...well since the party a month ago. Not that she didn't look good everyday, it was just that today must have been special. "You look nice." He commented casually as they walked out of the Institute.

"Thank you." Izzy smiled, "You don't look too bad yourself."

**_..._**

The Plaza looked like it had been rented and decorated by the one and only Magnus Bane. Everything sparkled with glitter, even the flowers on the neatly arranged table in the beautifully lit sunroom.

Alec and Magnus were already seated at the head of the large table, smiling and nodding at their guests. When they saw Isabelle and Simon, they waved them over, "You two are late." Magnus said, "20 minutes."

Izzy scoffed, "I needed to fix my-holy shit!" Her eyes widened when she saw the navy-skinned baby girl sitting on her brother's lap. She pointed at the child who looked a little scared from Isabelle's sudden outburst, "Who-Who...Magnus, what the hell?"

Simon grabbed her hand as the baby started crying, and Alec held her to his chest, frowning lightly at his sister. "By the Angel, Iz. Have you never seen a baby?"

She wrenched her hand out of Simon's and threw them into the air with exasperation, "Who's baby is it?"

Magnus laughed, "Not it, _she_. And she is ours."

"I thought you were getting married?" Simon asked, looking quite confused.

"We are."

Everyone else at the table, Clary, Jace, all stopped their conversations and looked towards the head to get a sense of what was going on.

Isabelle's face was turning red and her eyes watering, "Alec, you're nineteen!" She exclaimed.

"I'm turning twenty in a few months, actually." He countered.

At first Simon thought she was crying because she was angry, but suddenly, a huge smile cracked her lips and Isabelle was hugging her brother. He tried to hug her back without crushing the baby between them, but when Isabelle heard her squeal with discomfort, she backed away and grinned. "You're so cute! What's your name?"

Jace laughed, "I hope you know she can't talk yet."

The baby had stopped crying, but mainly because everyone had quieted down.

Magnus stroked a hand over the baby's soft, dark curls, making her look up at him with her large, blue eyes, smiling brightly. "Her name is Clementine. And Alexander came up with Clem as her nickname."

Izzy frowned, "Ohmygod, that's adorable!" She looked at her boyfriend for his agreement, but he only nodded in response. "Okay, well...let me know if you ever need a babysitter-"

"Izzy, _no_." Simon said sternly, but she kept on.

"Because we would love to take care of Clem!" Izzy cheered.

"I don't know know how to take care of a baby-" Simon argued.

Magnus held his hand up to stop them, "We can't let you two anyway. Clem isn't quite ours yet." He smiled at Alec, taking his hand and squeezing it. "But she will be soon."

**_..._**

"When is the wedding going to be?" Clary asked curiously, not taking her eyes off of Clem, who was seated comfortably in her lap.

Alec was watching his soon to be daughter closely as well, making sure nothing happened to her.

"Hopefully by May." Magnus answered.

Simon paused the champagne glass right in front of his lips, "That's, like, seven months from now."

The warlock shrugged, "Spring is beautiful. Flowers are in full bloom. More sunlight to shine on the glitter-"

"Magnus, you need help." Alec chuckled at his future husband's glitter obsession.

"Ow!" Clem had grabbed a handful of Clary's fiery hair and was slobbering all over it, giggling when the redhead cried out. "Oh, is that funny, Clem?" She asked, pulling the damp strands away from the child and rubbing at the new sore spot on her scalp.

Izzy perked up at this, then held her hands out for Clementine. "Can I please hold her?" She nearly whined.

Clary groaned, "Fine." She gently passed the baby over to her friend, who immediately tensed up as soon as the tiny person was placed on her lap. Clem, however, did not seem to like the change either.

"Wait...wait-no!" Izzy shrieked as the baby started to wail, "Magnus!" She looked at the warlock for help, "How do I get her to stop?" Izzy didn't seem to have left a good first impression on Clem because the tiny girl seemed to really dislike her.

Simon groaned, taking Clem from his girlfriend, and held her against his chest in a vain effort to comfort her. He patted her back, poked her cheeks, nothing seemed to work. "Oh, come on." Simon complained, "You must be ticklish!" The second his fingers touched Clem's middle and side, the warlock baby erupted into a fit of loud laughter, her cheeks turning red with joy (actually, I'm not sure that's possible with her dark skin and all, but whatever).

"You know, Iz, for someone who can kill basically anything, I'm surprised you can't even make a child laugh." Jace joked.

Clary rolled her eyes at him, "I'm sure you couldn't either."

"Are you kidding? Girls love me!"

Alec frowned at his brother, an angry red blush creeping up his neck, "She's only six months old, Jace."

Magnus nodded, "Her mother would not appreciate that comment at all."

"Who is her mother?" Isabelle asked.

She was a woman I used to know. She hoped she was having a mundane child, but when Clem was born with that skin of hers, it scared her mother right off. That evil woman apparently couldn't stand the sight of her...different child, so she left poor Clem to me. Of course, I couldn't take care of a newborn with all this shadowhunter business going on, so she stayed in another Institute for five months until Alec and I were ready." He shook his head as a look of resentment crossed his features, "I put a spell on her mother so that she couldn't come near Clem and hurt her again."

Clementine had her fingers knotted in her glittery tulle skirt (obviously, Magnus's choice), and was laughing hysterically at the faces Jace was making at her from all the way across the table.

Izzy sighed, "Am I the only one who can't make her laugh?"

Simon placed his hand on her thigh and squeezed it gently in a comforting manor, "Your time will come, Iz."

"You say that now, but when we have our own kids one day, they're all going to favor you." She scoffed.

Simon raised his eyebrows, eyes widening with surprise. "You want kids?"

Izzy shrugged, "Of course I do." She looked at Simon, eyes slanted suspiciously. "Do you not want kids?"

He held his hands up, "Let's not have this conversation too soon, okay?"

Isabelle threw her arms around his neck, pulling him down towards her so that she could kiss him properly. "Who knows? There's always the possibility of talking too late, rather than too soon."

"What are you insinuating?" He asked, growing a little anxious due to her vague answers and dismissive gestures.

"Nothing, Si."

_**...**_

No matter how much Isabelle made Clementine cry, she already felt a deep connection with her niece and had issues parting from her.

"Isabelle, give me my baby." Alec said, gently at first.

But it wasn't going to be that easy. Clementine had fallen asleep in her arms and it was the first time she wasn't crying with her aunt. Izzy's heart was melting at the feeling, and she could already feel the cold and loneliness she would feel when her brother and his fiancé took Clem from her.

"Alec, please! You'll wake the baby!" She scolded her brother. Isabelle, Simon, Magnus and Alec had all been standing outside of the Plaza for about twenty minutes already because Isabelle could not say goodbye.

"Can I please watch her? Just for an hour!" She pleaded with Magnus, who shook his head firmly and said, "No."

Izzy turned to her brother, "Can I please-"

"No!" Alec marched forward and with a surprising amount of speed while still maintaining his gentleness, he took Clementine from his sister and handed her off to Magnus so that he could put her in the car.

Isabelle pouted, crossing her arms over her chest as disappointment flared within her. "You two are no fun."

Magnus arched a brow at her, "What would you feed her while she was with you? Got any baby food? Of breast milk-"

Isabelle clutched at her chest like it was a precious jewel and she recoiled from the warlock, "Oh God no!" She exclaimed, "Fine, take your baby. But I'll be back."

As her brother and Magnus drove off, Simon finally spoke up, "For someone who is terrible with children, you sure are excited about the idea of them-"

Izzy gasped, "Are you calling me a bad mom?"

Simon frowned, "What? No; you're not even-"

She shook her head at him, "Shame on you, Simon, for not being open minded about the future."

"What'll make you a bad mom is all reprimanding and no play..." Simon stated like it was obvious, "So, why don't we practice playing?"

Izzy held her hands up in front of her, eyes widening, "I don't think we're at the point of our relationship yet-"

"No, I meant actual_ playing_!" Simon face palmed, "Like paintball."

She looked confused, "What is _paintball_?"

He grinned at her, like he was about to show her something extremely awesome, "You will see."

_**...**_

"That was so much fun!" Isabelle yelled, pushing herself off of Simon. Her boyfriend was lying, painted with a rainbow assortment of colors, on the Institute's front lawn because she had just won their third round of paintball. It was funny because Simon had been the one to suggest it, claiming that he would destroy her. Apparently, cockiness won you nothing but the number two spot, and Simon had to admit that he was sore...so sore from all the shots Izzy had nailed on him. Obviously she didn't know when to stop shooting...

"No, I'm so tired." He groaned.

"Okay, then let's go inside, eat some ice cream, and then continue."

"No..." Simon groaned again, louder that time.

Izzy frowned, thinking to herself for a moment. The second a way to convince her boyfriend popped into her mind, her eyes lit up and she crawled across the grass on all fours until she was on top of Simon with her knees on either side of his waist. "I will let you eat it off of me."

Simon's eyes widened incredulously and his hands snaked up to her waist, which, by the way, had barely been touched by any paint. "Are you serious? That would be freezing-"

Izzy gaped, "Are you actually complaining for me? A girl offered to let you eat delicious...icy...sweet dessert off of her body..." She trailed her finger down from his chest and all the way to the waistband of his jeans, "and you dared to refuse her?"

Simon gulped, knowing that she was only trying to persuade him into doing something he didn't want to do later. The ice cream part sound good, but not round four of paintball.

Isabelle leaned over him until her lips could brush his ear, "I just want you to know, that you probably won't get another opportunity like this because I won't like being sticky from all the sugar."

Okay, that was enough to set drag him in.

As Simon stood up, sweeping her into his arms so that he could carry her, bridal style, back into the Institute, the giggles of pleasure that erupted from her throat were enough to remind him that he had lost yet another battle against Isabelle Lightwood.


	7. Glittering Kisses and Shards of Hearts

**sorry for not updating for a while! life has been so busy and I'm running out of ideas. luckily after this chapter, I came up with more, but seriously, this story has me trippin'...anyway, this chapter is really weird. it's basic and short, but if you like kissing and making out, it should be perfect for you! I meant to add more, but I thought it wouldn't go well, so I'll wait until later chapters!**

**enjoy this (filler?) chapter (that was extremely awkward for me to write)!**

_**...**_

_**"The difference between sex and love is that sex relieves tension and love causes it."  
― Woody Allen**_

_**...**_

"I will protect you with my life." Simon smirked as he handed a game controller to his girlfriend. He never thought he would be able to convince Isabelle to actually play video games with him due to the fact that she always rolled her eyes and groaned whenever he brought up one of his favorites in a casual conversation.

"I'm a shadowhunter; I don't need your protection." Izzy scoffed. She was huddled on the couch in one of the lounge rooms of the Institute with her knees pressed to her chest and the controller gripped tightly in her hands. The silk bathrobe she wore was wet around the shoulders from her damp hair, which, oddly enough, still smelled a bit like rainbow sherbet. Isabelle grabbed a strand of her hair between her fingers, and brought it up to her nose, wrinkling it when the unusual smell got to her. "I never should have told you eat ice cream off of me. I smell like a walking sweets shop."

Simon sat down heavily beside her, sighing as he draped an arm around her shoulders. "I agree; I never should have done it. Sherbet is disgusting." He leaned in close and sniffed at her neck, "But you do have a way of making it…" Simon pressed his lips to her collarbone, making her shudder and lean into the touch, "delicious."

"Okay, you horn dog." Isabelle laughed, placing her hand on his chest to push him away before they could do anything too vulgar on a couch in a very public area, "I thought we were here to play video games?"

Simon shrugged, but still managed to maintain the distance he had closed between them by keeping his hand on the back of her neck, "I mean, unless you want to do something else. I know you don't really want to play-"

"No, I think we can both agree that I don't submit very good ideas..."

A short laugh began to bubble up from his throat, but Simon caught himself and passed it off as a cough that sounded more like a choke when Isabelle frowned at him. "You seemed to be enjoying the experience-"

Izzy rolled her eyes, tilting her head up to touch her lips to his. She could tell he wanted more by this way his hands moved from her neck to her waist, where they firmly gripped the fabric of her robe, but as Simon leaned closer to deepen the connection, Izzy dipped her face away from his and pushed the video game controller into his chest. "You need help focusing."

Simon scoffed, "You're the only reason I ever become frenzied, Iz."

"Frenzied?" She said incredulously, "You better hope that in this game, you can use all the excitement I bring to you because otherwise I'm going to kick your ass."

"Please. No one has ever beat me at one of my favorite games."

_**...**_

"I can't believe you just beat me at one of my favorite games!" Simon shouted, throwing the controller onto the floor. He thought he had aimed it to go out, but instead it bounced off of the couch and right back at him, nailing him in the crotch, "_Shit_." He hissed, clutching at the new tender spot.

Isabelle had watched the entire scene from her spot on the couch with wide eyes, obviously quite surprised of his actions. Never had she ever seen him so flustered over basically nothing. Well, in her opinion, it was nothing. Maybe to him, since it was his favorite game, it was also a big deal. But surely he had already played it enough to not care as much-"I suppose it wouldn't make you feel better if I said I knew I would beat you because I'm a natural warrior when it comes to combat." She quirked an eyebrow at him and smiled innocently as he glared right back, "Or maybe it'll make you feel better if I _kiss _it better?"

Simon appeared shocked at first, but as the reality of her offer sank in, his cheeks began to burn red and his gaping expression turned into a broad grin, "Really?"

"We're on a roll today, Si. We've already been in bed twice."

He laughed, raising his eyebrows at her suggestively, "Well you know what they say...three times the charm."

"I have never heard that in my life, but if it means what I think it means, then you most certainly used that at the wrong time."

"How so?" Simon asked, confused.

Izzy looked baffled at this comment, "Do you honestly think it's that easy to get me into bed?"

"We've already had this conversation, remember?" He traced his fingers over the lapels of her robe, drawing it open to expose the lace trimmed, black nightie she was wearing. It rode up around her thighs when she leaned forward to help him pull the clothing completely off. "But...right now, we're technically not in bed." Simon crawled on top of her, gently pushing her onto her back.

Izzy's lips curved into a seductive smile and she reached up to pull him down for a lingering kiss, "Good point." She mumbled against his lips.

As their kissing intensified, Isabelle's hands went under Simon's shirt, roaming over his smooth, warm skin and the knots in his spine. He groaned into her mouth as she shifted her hands from his back and over his jeans zipper.

"Take off your shirt," Izzy commanded through a husky whisper.

Simon did not hesitate to follow her order and the moment his shirt was off, he crashed his lips back to hers. He felt something circling around his waist, but he did not need to look down to know that it was Isabelle's legs locking him to her. His kisses trailed down her neck, to her shoulder, where he paused briefly to pull down the strap of her slip and look at her for permission to proceed.

She nodded and held her arms above her head, shuddering a little as his fingers grazed her legs to grasp the lace-

A loud crash resonated throughout the room, startling Simon off of Isabelle and onto the floor. Alec stood in the doorway looking shocked, although that quickly reciprocated to a registered speculation of fury. The bottle of wine he dropped had shattered on the polished wooden floor, and sent red wine splashing all over the nearest furniture and walls. "Angel above! Why the hell are you two not in a bedroom? This Institute has so many private areas and you pick the most public place to make love!" He shrieked, backing out of the room with his hands over his eyes. There was another loud crash seconds later, "By the Angel, Alexander!" They heard Maryse scolding him, "Watch where you're going!"

Simon breathed out a huge sigh of relief as both of their footsteps traveled away from the doorway. He looked up at Isabelle, whose cheeks were flushed and chest still rising and falling rapidly. Her swollen lips pulled into a tight smile as she tipped her head back and laughed out loud, "You should have seen your face!"

Simon pushed a hand through his hair, not finding the factor funny at all, yet still having a difficult time attempting to hold back the snicker rising in his throat. "Oh God, if he walks in on us one more time…"

"He won't." Isabelle recollected herself, adjusting her slip and all before standing up and tossing his shirt back to him, "There are such things as locking runes." She smirked, "We'll make sure to use one the next time we decide to hang out."

"There are also such things as opening runes," said Simon.

"Yet only your redhead bestie knows how to make them." Izzy countered, smacking his hand away when he tried to put his shirt back on, "Keep it off. You're staying over tonight, right?"

Simon nodded, "But I'm not going to walking around shirtless while your parents and brothers could be lurking around every corner."

Izzy giggled, "Ohmygod, you're so cute."

"No," Simon said, indignantly. "I'm sexy."

Isabelle rolled her eyes, unable to stifle her laughter, "Okay, Si."

**.**_**...**_

**Basically, I had a lot more to this chapter, but I felt that it didn't quite fit the weird theme/mood of this one, so I decided to add it in later on in the story. Also, it would have taken me much longer to write, so I decided since you all have been waiting long enough, might as well get on with updating this story right now.**

**It was fun/stressful to write, so maybe you'll be able to tell what scene it is.**

**anyway, thanks so much for reading!**

**more soon!**

_**-H.**_

_**ps, if you have anything specific you want to see in this story, review or pm me and I'll be sure to write it in! also, I promise I'll give you full credit!**_


	8. Rejoicing with the Truth

**in the a.n. of the last chapter, I asked for ideas and this chapter's inspiration came from ****_gurl-with-a-love-of-literature_**

**so, thank you very much and if you have a request, then just pm it to me or leave me a review!**

**...**

_**"**__**The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day." **_  
_**― **__**David Foster Wallace**_

_**...**_

"Simon, you're going to get us killed." Isabelle groaned.

Simon had been trying to get her into Central Park for about half an hour to meet his sister, but every single time he grabbed her hand, she dug her feet into the ground and pulled back, shaking her head. Luckily, he had planned ahead and arrived early so that in case this happened, they wouldn't be just leaving Rebecca in the park alone.

"She's my sister, Iz. Becca isn't going to hurt you." He once again tried to drag her into the park, but to no avail. She was extremely resistant and strong for someone in such tall heels and a skirt so short it could probably pass as a belt. Nevertheless, she looked great and who was Simon to complain when his girlfriend made an effort to be liked by someone she did not even know. Then, at the same time, her whole attitude towards the situation was entirely reluctant. She was freaking out about what Simon thought was not a big deal at all; Rebecca might have been the nicest person he knew. But Isabelle didn't know that. Not yet at least.

She frowned at him, folding her arms over her chest. "No, but the fricken Clave will. Your sister is a mundane, Simon. We're shadowhunters; _we're not allowed to see her!_"

Simon laughed at this, for she had been the one who suggested that he introduce her to Rebecca, "You're the one who wanted to meet her; now you're just making excuses-"

"Simon?"

Isabelle stopped wrestling with Simon's hands momentarily to turn and face the girl with dark, curly hair. She was very pretty with rosy cheeks and large, brown eyes and looked, not surprisingly, a lot like Simon.

"Rebecca!" Simon let go of his girlfriend and went to hug his sister tightly, like he'd never hugged her before, "It's been a while." He said as he pulled back to get a good look at her.

"Yeah, and you look...buff!" She laughed.

Izzy stood at an awkward distance behind the two, becoming increasingly irritated the longer their hands stayed on each other's shoulders.

Simon smiled adoringly at his sister, "I hope so because otherwise all the training I did was for nothing." To Isabelle's relief, he finally removed his hands from her waist. She didn't care if Rebecca was his sister or not, she was still another girl-

"This is my girlfriend, Isabelle." Simon pulled her forward, sounding extremely proud. This, of course, brought Isabelle's joy back, and with that joy came her confidence, and she stuck out her hand for Rebecca, "It's nice to finally meet you."

_**...**_

"How are you not freezing in that skirt?" Rebecca asked Isabelle, sounding quite incredulous.

Izzy blushed and looked down at the unusual amount of skin she was showing for such a cool, autumn day. She had to admit that it looked a little bit strange to be wearing a mini skirt when the wind felt like sheer ice blowing against their cheeks and leaving stinging, red marks of cold. Yet Isabelle tried to play it out like it was nothing and merely shrugged, pulling a small smile, "I don't get cold so easily." She let out a short she hadn't known she was holding in as soon as Rebecca turned her gaze back to the little pond of ducks they had decided to sit beside. Izzy took this opportunity to lean up against Simon and whisper in his ear, "Are you cold?"

He looked at her, confused for a moment, "Do you want my jacket?"

She nodded, helping him out of his. Once she had the jacket in her hands, Isabelle stood up to tie it around her waist. But a miniature terror had come out of nowhere and was approaching her with alarming speed.

"Iz, there's a-"

"Ohmygod!" She screeched, backing away from the creature.

Rebecca laughed as Simon tried to swat it away, only succeeding in brushing it closer to his girlfriend, "It's only a duck!" She cried as her outburst tipped her back onto the grass.

Isabelle was not afraid of the duck. How could she be? Compared to all of the demons she had killed in her life, this was a tiny bug that could easily be crushed beneath her boot-splash! Unfortunately for Izzy, because she had been so intent on thinking about how easily it would be to expel the bird, she had misscalculated how far away she was from the edge of the pond and was not able to correct her footing before it was too late. It wasn't a deep pool of water, but it was murky and smelly and Isabelle was furious. She fell over completely and was soaked through to the bone, but she pulled herself right back up because people were starting to stare at her.

Simon's eyes were wide with alarm and he couldn't stop staring at his sopping wet girlfriend, who looked about ready to either burst into tears or kill someone; he didn't know which, "Izzy, are you okay-" He began, but she was already ripping off his waterlogged jacket and throwing it at him. She stomped tempestuously out of the water and before anyone could speak any further, Izzy ran behind a thick brush of trees and disappeared.

Simon knew she had probably glamoured herself because when she stepped out from behind the bush with her arms crossed over her chest and glaring at him, Rebecca looked as if she was seeing past her, squinting her eyes and turning her confused gaze back to her brother. "Where did she go?"

Simon shrugged, "She's...not here...anymore." He was trying to avoid lying, but was not very good at it.

Rebecca narrowed her eyes at him before replying sarcastically, "No way!" She laughed momentarily, but stopped when the look on Simon's face went from shocked to anxious, "You can go after her if you want."

He raised his eyebrows at her curiously, "Really? I was going to ask if you wanted to maybe get some coffee or something."

She shook her head, "I'm good. But really, she's probably going to murder you, so go."

_**...**_

Simon just made it into the elevator in the Institute just as Isabelle hit the button to go up.

He leaned against the wall furthest away from his girlfriend, feeling the vibrating metals on his back while the cart rattled up the shaft.

"Izzy-" Simon tried, but she shook her head.

"No." Her voice was sharp, but she wouldn't look up at him. Her eyes stayed on her sodden boots, once expensively sleek and shiny, and now wrinkled and mucked from the pond water.

Simon was about to apologize when the rattling suddenly stopped and then the elevator did as well.

Izzy's eyes narrowed, but when she realized that they wouldn't be going anywhere any time soon, she groaned and slid down the wall, holding her head in her hands.

Simon smiled at her frustration and walked over to where she was so that he could sit next to her. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and placed his finger under her cheek to lift her eyes to his, "Are you okay?"

Izzy dragged a hand through her wet hair, tugging the new tangles out with her fingers. The glare fell off of her face when she saw her boyfriend's sincere concern. "Yes..."

He pushed her hair out of her eyes and leaned in to kiss her cheek, lingering for a bit as she smiled and pressed closer to him. "You know, you still looked beautiful when you fell in the pond."

Izzy rolled her eyes, but a small smile was pulling at her lips, "No...it was so embarrassing."

Simon nodded, "Yes, you did." He curved his hand around her neck and the back of her head, "And everyone gets embarrassed every once in a while. Everyone _including_ Isabelle Lightwood."

A deep red blush began creeping up her neck and she looked away, smirking. Simon could tell that the situation still bothered her and she was clearly still embarrassed about it. But he didn't want her to be. He wanted her to feel comfortable.

"Hey," Simon made her look at him again, but this time he was more serious, "my sister doesn't think you're a bad..or weird person; even if she did, you shouldn't care what she thinks about you." He paused, "You shouldn't care what anyone thinks about you. Except for those who care for you and love you. Like your brothers and your parents. Also Clary..."

Isabelle lifted her head from his shoulder and looked up at him, eyes wide and shining with tears, "You forgot the most important person."

Simon chuckled softly, but when he smiled, it was sad and his eyes wouldn't focus on hers. "Me?" He shrugged, "No way. I'm not that important."

Isabelle sat up straighter and frowned, "What you think about me is so important...you don't even know it."

"You're right, I don't." Simon sighed, "But that's because you're afraid I'll hurt you, right?"

Izzy's eyes clouded over and her frowned turned into a look of uncomfortable and despair, "I used to be afraid, but I trust you, Si. I've never felt this way about anything or anyone."

Simon finally looked at her again and was surprised to see the amount of love and passion in her eyes. He was losing himself in the dark beauty of them, but as she started to talk again, he found himself moving closer to her. So close that her lips brushed his as she spoke.

"And I'm glad it's you." Izzy scooted so close to him that she was basically in his lap. As Simon's arms went around her waist, her hands wound in his hair. There were tears falling down her cheeks, "I'm so glad you came into my life, Simon Lewis."

He wanted to wipe her tears away, wipe every amount of pain that was shown away, "It's Fairchild."

Izzy rolled her eyes and kissed him, only pulling away to catch her breath and gasp out, "It's going to be Lightwood."

Simon could barely mumble his response as her lips parted over his and and he suddenly could not contain himself. In that moment, his lust for her was far too great of a match for his self control and he found himself pulling her onto him, his grip tightening on her waist as their kisses became hotter and more desperate.

"I love you." Simon muttered as he pressed his lips to her collarbones.

"Say it again." Izzy whispered harshly, breathing hard and trying to not become completely derailed.

Simon rested his forehead in the juncture between her neck and shoulder, and took a deep breath, smiling as she placed soft kisses on his temple. "I love you, Isabelle. So, so much." He lifted his head up so that he could look her in the eye and cupped her cheek with his palm.

Izzy bit her lip, her smile growing even wider as Simon's anticipation grew,"I love you more-"

The doors to the elevator screeched open, but Simon and Isabelle were too lost in their own moment to care, even though it was once again her brother interrupting them.

"Angel above!" Alec bumped into Jace as he tried to turn away, but the blonde grabbed his arm and yanked him back into the doorway of the elevator.

"Isabelle, you know better than to seduce people in public areas," Jace scolded her sarcastically, "Shame on you. I am very disappointed."

Alec avoided eye contact with his sister and her boyfriend as they stood up, Simon looking slightly embarrassed and Izzy looking quite pleased.

"Oh come on, brother." She mused, "You've walked in on me so many times, it really shouldn't faze you. And this time, our clothes were on."

Alec wrinkled his nose at her, "But you're wet. Oh god, _why are you wet?"_

Izzy smirked, "Same reason you come home with only half of your clothes, but covered in glitter-"

"Isabelle, shut up!" Alec shrieked as they all started laughing hysterically.

She grabbed Simon's hand and pulled him out of the elevator, knowing Alec could get really pissed really quickly when provoked.

Just as the elevator door was closing, they heard Jace speaking like he was the biggest know it all on the face of the earth, "You know, if we hadn't been there right then, they would have kept-"

"Jace, I am_ this close_ to cutting you..."

Izzy leaned her head on Simon's shoulder as the elevator doors closed and her fingers entwined with his. She sighed when his arm went around her waist and they walked in silence on their way to her room but instead of turning towards the corridor of bedrooms, he pushed her against the nearest wall and smiled.

"Is this what it's going to be like when we're married? Your brother always walking in on us?"

Isabelle shook her head, "No, of course not. We'll move out and have our own place where there will be enough space for us..." She bit her lip as his smile broadened.

"And our own family-"

"Oh, come on. You know I was thinking we would have a dog." Izzy rolled her eyes, "There's no way I will ever let a child ruin my body."

Simon narrowed his eyes at her, "How would you even know a child could...?"

"Umm, my mother tells me just about everything, Si." Her eyes widened with horror, "Everything."

Simon stepped away from her, still grinning from ear to ear, "Alright then. We'll live in a mansion. Just the two of us and our beloved dog." He sighed, "I could have sworn you told me differently at Magnus and Alec's engagement brunch last month."

Izzy flipped her hair over her shoulder, cringing as it dripped more water onto her clothes and the beautiful, marble floors of the Institute. "People can change a lot in a month." She pushed her hand through his hair, smiling when he grabbed it and kissed it, then brought her towards his body to kiss her on the lips. Izzy pulled back quickly, though, laughing as he groaned with disappointment, "My clothes are so wet, Simon, and they're really uncomfortable. I just need them off."

"Yeah?" Simon asked, "Did you want me to run a hot bath for you or anything? It's basically winter and you walked around in soaking clothes for over an hour; I wouldn't be surprised if you got sick or something-"

Izzy laughed, "Are you kidding me? I'm still all hot from our business in the elevator..." She spoke truthfully, their gazes locked the entire time. "I suppose you don't have anything else to do for the rest of today?"

Simon shrugged, "Not unless you want to do something."

She swung her arms around his neck and pressed closer to him, "Well, I think we should go out. But first, we'll take a shower-"

"_We?_" Simon's eyes widened.

"Okay,_ I'll_ take a shower-"

"I'm okay with 'we', it's just that I wasn't sure I heard correctly-" Simon said quickly, but Izzy shook her head.

"No, you don't need a shower anyway, you're clean." She gestured to her wet clothes, "I'm dirty-"

"Yes, we all know that, Isabelle." Magnus stepped into the hallway, Clementine in his arms. She appeared to be sleeping soundly with her head resting on his chest, but when Izzy saw her, she couldn't contain her exclamation of joy, "Clem!"

Izzy ran right for the baby, who had been startled into a rude wake up. She tried to take Clem from Magnus, but the warlock held her back, "Did you wash your hands-dear god, Isabelle, why are you wet?"

She pouted, "I fell into a pond-"

Magnus backed away with Clem, who was starting to get fussy, "Nope, nope, nope. You can't hold her until you take a shower or sterilize yourself. I would prefer both, actually."

Izzy nodded, but before she could turn and run up the stairs, an idea popped into her head and her eyes widened with excitement, "Will you let us take her to the park? Please! Please?" She begged, almost hanging on the lapels of the warlock's blazer.

Magnus groaned, but there was a small smiling hanging on his lips, like he was enjoying his friend's persistency. "If it's okay with Simon-"

"Of course it's okay with him." Izzy grabbed Simon's arms and nearly shook him, "Tell Magnus it's okay!" She said exasperatedly.

"It's okay!" Simon brushed her off of him but only managed to stay clear of his girlfriend until the warlock disappeared down the hallway.

Isabelle pounced on him, legs wrapped around his waist and arms hugging his face to her chest, "Simon, this is so exciting!" She exclaimed, "Clementine is going to love us; you just wait and see."

"I love your confidence, Iz." Simon smirked as he tried to not walk them into a wall; he couldn't exactly see where they were going because Isabelle was still glued to him. "But don't jinx yourself. Last time you went to a park, you fell in a pond." He reminded her bashfully.

"Oh, be quiet."

_**...**_


	9. Higher than the Soul can Hope

**Wow, it has been a while since I last updated...but I promise that as I was updating my other fanfiction, I was thinking about this one and rapidly trying to finish writing this chapter while I write the next one because I care about my readers and I want everyone to be happy!**

**I hope everyone is having a HAPPY NEW YEAR!**

_**...**_

_**"Ring the bells that still can ring**_

_**Forget your perfect offering**_

_**There is a crack in everything**_

_**That's how the light gets in."**_

_**― Leonard Cohen**_

_**...**_

"I have a surprise for you." Isabelle purred.

Simon blinked, clearly surprised by this awakening from his girlfriend. She was straddling him, her hands placed firmly on his chest for balance. Her outfit was strangely different, but Simon couldn't tell why just yet-"What are you wearing?"

"It's an apron, Si." She giggled breathlessly, "And you need to get up before your present gets cold!" The last part came out as a desperate whine that made Simon's head pulse with even more pain. Her engagement party for her brother and his fiance the previous night had gotten him so drunk, he almost didn't remember what even happened. The only thing he could draw from the night with absolute positivity was that Isabelle Lightwood knew how to throw a party. And when she threw one, she never missed, and everyone was hit hard with it.

"Are you wearing anything _under_ that apron?" Simon asked, eyeing the considerable amount of cleavlage peeking through the frilly top of the cooking garment.

Izzy's cheeks went pink, "I actually have a present for you downstairs and this is just a little side gift."

Simon wrinkled his brow with confusion, "Why so many gifts? Did I sleep until Christmas or something?"

"No, you slept until 6 in the evening and now we only have 6 more hours of our three month anniversary!" Isabelle growled, grabbing the nearest pillow and smacking him with it. She stood up and crossed her arms over her chest, "If you aren't downstairs in five minutes, I will come up here with my whip and I will hurt you."

Simon opened his mouth to respond with a sarcastic comeback, but Isabelle glared fiercely to get him to shut up, "It will _not_ hurt in a good way."

...

"So, you just thought it would be fun to bake while naked?" Simon asked upon arriving in the kitchen and seeing what Isabelle had set out for the two of them.

Izzy shrugged, "Late night bakings are sexual."

The kitchen counters were topped with organized groups of different ingredients and Simon was not surprised by all the effort Isabelle had obviously went through to impress him. Apparently today was a very special day for her and she wanted everything to be done well.

"It's not that late-" He started to protest, but Izzy had reached for the hem of his apron and pulled it up.

"You're still wearing your boxers!" She snapped, frowning deeply at him.

Simon chuckled, "Okay, okay. Calm down." He let her pull his boxers off and then watched as she tossed them over the counter.

"First things first." Isabelle clasped her hands together, "What should we bake?"

Simon shrugged, "The only thing I know how to bake is cake."

Izzy's eyes suddenly grew bright with excitement, "And all I know how to make is frosting!" She tilted her head up slightly to place a soft kiss on his jaw, "Aren't we a perfect little match?"

Simon grinned at her and winked, "Perfect."

...

"No, Simon, that's way too much powdered sugar!" Isabelle shouted as the powder lifted from the bowl and clouded around her head and shoulders like a white puff.

Simon stopped pouring the sugar when his girlfriend accidentally inhaled some of it and began coughing uncontrollably. He realized then that he had probably read the numbers on the recipe incorrectly; the glass bowl was filled to the brim with powdered sugar, covering the rest of the ingredients for frosting. "Oops."

"Yeah...oops!" Isabelle gagged and moved towards the sink so that she could rinse her mouth and throat thoroughly, "I feel like I'm dying." She rasped.

Simon looked at her, confused, "Shouldn't it be dissolving in your mouth or something?" He reached over to pull her hair back from her face, "How are you choking?"

"It's in my mouth...my nose...my eyes...my goddamn ears!" Izzy's words were strangled as water splashed on her face and down her front and throat. "Holy shit."

"Isabelle, I'm going to get Magnus; this is not healthy." He started walking out of the kitchen, but a muffled shout from Isabelle made him stop in his tracks, "You might want to put some clothes on first."

...

"So, Magnus isn't here, but..." Simon stopped in the kitchen of the doorway when he saw Isabelle sitting on the floor with her head in her hands. She was clothed again, wearing a casual white dress and strappy, gold sandals. Her eyes were red and makeup rubbed off from the effort of trying to flush herself free of sugar. Simon didn't realize how long he must have been gone. Isabelle looked completely changed...and upset. "What's wrong?"

She shrugged and smiled weakly, "Our anniversary. That's what's wrong."

Simon crossed the room to sit down beside her and slip his arm around her shoulders, "Izzy, it's not a big deal," He whispered soothingly, pulling her close to him, "Three months, not three years."

While Simon thought that he was comforting her, it had been the wrong thing to say.

Her eyes darkened as she pulled away from him, "It is important, Simon." Isabelle pulled a sweater on over her spaghetti straps, "Everyday with you is a blessing. After what happened, I don't know when you could be taken away from me again-"

"Isabelle," Simon grabbed her wrist to keep her from walking away after she stood up, "I'm not going anywhere." He raised himself off of the floor and wrapped his arms around her waist. He wanted to make sure that everything important to her was special and unforgettable, "And if I do go somewhere...I will be sure to bring you with me." Simon grinned when Isabelle finally smiled genuinely, "I'm going to go upstairs and change," his fingers entwined with hers, "and you wait down here. I won't be long." He said quickly when Izzy's eyes darkened, "I promise!"

She smiled, her eyes warming as her lips stretched wider, "I just want you to know, Si...I'm only upset because I burnt the cake while you were looking for the warlock."

"Wow," said Simon, "Way to play with my emotions."

...

"Simon Lewis - Lightwood - Fairchild - whatever the hell your name is, I hate you so much!" Isabelle shrieked upon seeing his anniversary surprise for her.

"Why? I thought girls liked it when guys spent their money on them-" Simon protested lightly.

"You rented out a formal restaurant and let me wear something casual!"

Simon rolled his eyes while he grabbed her shoulders and led her over to a table lit with pretty candles. The tablecloth was red velvet and it was already fully set with additional glass vases of cream and pink roses. "Just enjoy it while it lasts-"

Izzy watched as he sat down, eyes burning, "How am I supposed to enjoy this beautiful display of your obvious love for me when just an hour ago I failed miserably to...show my love for you?" Now, there were tears in her eyes, but her cheeks were red, marking her shame.

Simon reached across the table and took her hand in his, smiling warmly, "You don't need to show your love for me through material objects, Iz. I can see it in your eyes, feel it when you kiss me and hold me. It's only been three months, but I feel like we've known each other for forever. And to think we've still got a long time to be together..." He laughed softly, "I'm excited, Isabelle, I really am."

Her lips twitched, like she wanted to smile.

"Hey..." Simon got up and scooted her out of her chair so that she could sit comfortably on his lap. His hands went around her waist and his forehead nuzzled her neck, "I don't need cake or frosting to be happy or to be in love." He lifted his finger to her chin and tilted her head down to look in her eyes, "I just need you by my side...you're all I need, Iz."

Isabelle smiled, leaning forward to rest her forehead against his, "You're making me feel mushy inside."

"Am I?" He placed his hand on her stomach, "Even more than usual?"

She giggled, pushing his hand away, "I'm a shadowhunter; that means I train and have muscles and you know it."

"I know that I am in love with you." Simon pressed his lips to hers, only pausing when she laughed softly and pulled away.

Isabelle gestured towards the lit candles and pretty roses, "Yes, I also know that no." But she could not stay away from him for very long and crashed her mouth back onto his, slowing down after a bit to enjoy the soft pressure that he applied with just enough passion.

Their evening was among one of the most spectacular nights of their lives. And when they arrived back at the Institute, Isabelle was sure to redeem herself. Simon knew what was bound to happen next the moment as she pulled him into her bed. He told himself not to be nervous because he was sure that he wanted to do it. Simon trusted Isabelle; he loved her and knew that he did not want to be with anyone else.

In between kisses and heated murmurs, when she asked if he was positive that he was okay with continuing, Simon answered with a strong confident voice, "Yes, I'm positive."

And so they did.

Simon had never felt so close to anyone in his life. The way Isabelle held him to her body, tight like she never could let him go, also felt gentle, like she was handling precious goods. Her voice was like music to his ears whenever she whispered his name, encouraging him to keep going. They were a tangle of limbs, an inseparable match of burning desire.

Things were fast at first, but slowed as they began to really worship each other's bodies. Not an inch of skin was left unkissed, or without a soft caress. It was only them in the moment, with a steady, yet heated rhythm up until their very final moments of being latched to reality. Simon could have sworn he saw stars as his core erupted into a ball of fire. This seemed to ignite Isabelle, for she shook in his arms, crying his name prior to her collapse against him. They lay together for a long time, while everything around them shimmered, but Simon thought it was because both of their eyes were shining with tears.

Once they had started, they had been unable to stop and it made him wonder if there really had been enough time for him to adequately prepare. But the moment they both came down from their height of bliss, Isabelle assured him that it was the most amazing experience of her life. And Simon could only agree with her.

_..._

I made sure to keep it a T rating because not all of us are comfortable with reading smut.

So, I know what you're probably thinking...that was the cheesiest thing I have ever read in my life.

Yes, it was the cheesiest thing I have ever written in my life, but we all know that the cheesier, the cuter and the fluffier, so it had to happen.

_(honestly though, why would I make Isabelle try to bake when she can't cook?!)_

I'm pretty happy with it, but it only really matters to me if you are, too.

So, leave me a review and please tell me what you thought about this chapter!

Thank you,

H.


	10. Bad Boy Heartbreaker

"_**Surprises, I feel now, are primarily a form of violence." **_

― _**Suzanne Finnamore**_

_**...**_

"What happened to your wrists?"

Simon glared at Jace. It was bad enough that he was late for his meet up with Clary, but now his girlfriend's brother wanted an explanation on the scars that wrapped around his wrist. Yeah, like he would ever explain his kinky sex to the world's best shadowhunter.

"Isabelle likes to play rough." He sighed, while trying to figure out the fancy looking coffee machine in the Institute's kitchen.

Jace scoffed, "You let her use her whip-"

"Simon!" Isabelle bounded into the kitchen and threw herself into Simon's arms, "Why did you leave the bed so early - are those scars?" She was distracted by the marks on his wrists, "Damn, Si, if it was hurting, why didn't you tell me to stop?"

Simon wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her towards him so that he could whisper in her ear, "Why in the world would I tell you to stop when it felt so good-"

"Gotta be enough, you two." Jace groaned, backing away from the counter where the couple was locked in a tight embrace, "Raziel, I feel like I'm on the set of some high school flick."

Isabelle laughed softly, but when she spoke, her eyes gazed intently into Simon's, "Our love is more real than any onscreen romance."

_**...**_

"Simon, you've only been officially dating Isabelle for four months and you're already buying her a ring?" Clary asked incredulously. Her fiery hair was tied back in a messy bun and she was wearing her favorite paint splotched jeans along with a loose, white tanktop. She and Simon had been trying to make the most of their last few warm days of fall, whether it be going out to parks and just talking, or painting to Simon's old band music.

"I'm not buying anything; It's just a symbol of our love. And how I'm serious about her and I love her and want to stay with her." Simon shrugged.

"And you can't just _tell_ her that because...?"

He rolled his eyes and grinned playfully, "You know Isabelle is big on...well, big things. Like announcements or parties...especially announcement parties."

Clary whistled, "Tell me about it. I am still finding glitter in random places from her engagement party for Magnus and Alec over a month ago."

Simon grinned, holding the studio door open for his friend, "Besides, you know Jace is the type of guy to buy you a ring, too."

"If he is that type, then he has yet to do it." She sighed, "The only big rock I've gotten is..." Clary blushed profusely as Simon's eyes narrowed, "Pretend I did not say that."

"What were we talking about again, Fray?"

_**...**_

The room was just perfect. Top floor of the building and with each wall covered in windows, all of the remaining autumn light and heat radiated from the glass, warming everything within the studio. Clary was standing on her side of the room, which was enriched with art supplies and her own artwork. Simon kept telling her that she would soon run out of wallspace, but she only teased him with the fact that she would just take his. He just shook his head and reminded her that because they were splitting the rent of the apartment evenly, the room was split equally as well. Well, despite the natural joy that the wonderful day seemed to be bringing everyone, Clary still had a frown on her face. Every time she raised her paintbrush to the blank canvas seated on an easel in front of her, she just sighed and dropped her arms back down to her sides.

"If you don't mind, I'm trying to make music here." Simon complained, sounding more amused, rather than irritated. His side of the room was decorated with band posters, sheet music, and even instruments. Although he mostly played the bass, he had decided to venture out more because of that fact that he was no longer with his band. He missed the original sounds of his friends and him creating their own music and he wanted to be able to relieve some of his best mundane memories if it meant doing it all by himself.

Clary groaned, tossing her paintbrush to the floor, where the red paint from the tip splattered. "I can't art."

Simon squinted, clearly confused, "What did you just say?"

"I don't know why." The redhead sounded flustered and concerned, "I think there's something wrong-or something is about to go wrong; I'm sensing an aura."

"Okay, well, why don't you use your aura sensing skills for good?"

"I am. I am predicting the future badness that is going to happen!"

"You are a real piece of work, you know that?"

The perplexity fell off of the redhead's face and she smirked, raising her arms around her to gesture towards all of her creations, "Do you mean a real piece of _art_work?" Clary giggled when Simon slapped a hand over his face, "What are you doing anyway? Normally when you write music, you hum it out loud."

Her best friend removed his hand from his face and glanced down at the notebook balanced on his legs, "How else would I hum, Clary? I have to hum out loud-"  
Clary groaned and bounded over to where he was sitting with his back against the wall, "Quit stalling and show me what you've got so far."

"No." Simon screeched when she tried to grab the notebook from him.

A flicker of hurt flashed across her features, but it quickly vanished when her lips twitched into a sweet smile. Her teasing smile, "Oh, come on, Si. Is it really so bad, you can't even show your best friend?"

He shook his head, "It's personal."

Clary's eyes suddenly went an odd luminescent green and Simon groaned when he realized that his comment had only excited her further, "Now, I just want to read it even more!" And just like that, because of all the time spent training, she had the notebook out of his hands after a swift roll and sharp snatch. "Ha!"

Simon's heartbeat began to race with anticipation, "Clarissa Fray, don't you dare read what's in there-"

It was too late. Her voice was proud and elevated as she began to read, her smile growing even bigger, "I will protect you forever; be your guardian, catching you when you fall and rising us up together. Your hand in mine, eyes gazing like brilliantly scattered stars forever past the end of time…" Clary's smile had vanished by then and her voice was shaking. She slammed the notebook shut and glared at Simon, "_Simon!_"

His eyes widened at her complete and utter shock, "_What?_"

"Are you planning on proposing? Is that why you want to buy her a ring?" Clary was shouting now, but Simon could not tell whether she was angry or just confused.

"I'm not buying her a ring-" He shook his head, "No, _no!_ I'm not going to propose to her!"  
"Then why the hell does this sound like a proposal song?" She tossed the book back at him, "Screw it; the damn song sounds like a _wedding _song-are you really so confident that you two are going to get married?"

"I've known her for as long as you and Jace have known each other and you tell me all the time how you cannot wait to marry him-" Simon protested.

Clary threw her hands in the air, exasperated, "You _forgot_, Simon! You forgot everyone. It's been four months since you two have-"

Simon was angry now. Angry that his friend was being such a hypocrite. Angry that she was not being supportive, "_I know her and I love her._"

Clary released a strangled breath, "Are you really this serious about her? Because you know that this is not some fairy tale where things end happily ever after without a second thought. You have to actually think about this."

"I am." Simon said flatly.

"You're thinking with your heart. Think with your brain." said Clary, "You can't just assume things are perfect because you two were together before your memories got taken away. I don't know if you remember that Isabelle is a girl who breaks people; she's heartbreaker, Si, and I don't want you to get hurt." Clary was being truly genuine, Simon could tell. But after being invested in Isabelle for so long, he could not just be veered away by a few words of her opinion.

He sighed and looked away from her, "It's been four months and we're fine-"

Clary shook her head, "It's been four months and you want to buy her a ring." She swallowed, "You're moving too fast."

Simon stood up and gathered his belongings. The way he carelessly shoved things into his bag told Clary that he was upset, "I may be _giving _her a ring, Clary, but like I said before, I'm not asking her to marry me." He looked up at Isabelle with dark eyes, "I just want to do something nice for her."

_**...**_

"Give them back." Simon growled.

Izzy was balancing on a wooden beam in the ceiling of the training room, her boyfriend's glasses dangling in her hand. "Come and get them."

Simon rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. His conversation with Clary earlier was weighing on him now and he knew that he had to mention it to his girlfriend...even if it meant putting their relationship in jeopardy, "Iz, I'm a shadowhunter; it's really not that hard for me to-" Simon cut himself off as Isabelle dropped from the beam, and he lunged forward to catch her just before she could land on the mat. Her weight tipped him over and he fell on top of her, wincing with pain when a terrible cracking sound filled air around them and his hand bent beneath her back.

Isabelle's eyes widened and she started to move off of him, but he pushed her back down when his hand crunched again, "Simon, you need help-"

Simon shook his head, "You're making it worse."

"Then what the hell do you want me to do?" She asked, exasperated.

He rested his head on her chest for a moment while he thought, but when an idea came into his mind, he looked up at her and spoke, voice strained. "Can you reach into my jacket for my stele?"

Izzy turned her head towards his leather jacket, which was just barely in arm's reach, "I think so..." She stretched her arm out until her fingertips brushed the hem of his jacket enough for her to grab it and pull it towards her. He had dropped his head back to her chest and when she dipped her hand into the first pocket and felt the black, velvet box brush her fingers, her heart skipped a beat.

"Simon..." Isabelle breathed out, slowly placing her hands on his shoulders, "Get up."

"Izzy-"

"Get off of me." When he didn't comply, she dragged herself out from under him, trying hard to ignore his cries of pain whenever his hand cracked, "I need to go-"

Simon stood up, clutching his hand and he was able to beat her to the door, slamming his body against the old wood so that she couldn't get by. "We need to talk." He grumbled.

Isabelle's mouth parted like she wanted to say something, but instead, she tossed his glasses back at him and folded her arms over her chest, "I don't want to hear it. I'm not _ready _to hear it-"

Simon groaned and tipped his head back so that it fell against the door, "Not everything is about what you want Isabelle. It's not all about you-"

"You're damn right, it's not all about me." She exploded, "Alec, Magnus, Clary, Jace, my parents - the Clave, even the Clave...we have all been busting our asses for you. It's not just me who cares."

His eyes widened, "Why are you so angry right now?"

Isabelle threw her hands into the air, "I'm not angry-" She pointed at him, "You're crazy, and you don't know..." Izzy breathed in deeply, "I'm not ready."

"Iz..." Simon's face went white with realization and he tried to place a comforting hand on her shoulder, "I'm not going to-"

She shrugged him off, "I just...I need some time, okay?"

_**...**_

"I know he's not ready, Clary." Izzy muttered tiredly, "We're shadowhunters; we do runes, not rings, so there's a reason he asked me to wear the ring and not draw the wedded union runes."

Clary was slumped over the kitchen counter, watching her friend pace the space before her. It was nearly midnight and after a long day of being in a bad mood, Clary had just wanted to go to bed and sleep it off, but Isabelle apparently had other plans.

"...and then he told me that we needed to talk." Izzy stopped pacing and slammed her hands on the countertop, starting the redhead out of her doze, "Is he going to break up with me?"

Clary glared, "How should I know?"

"You're his best friend-"

"Yeah and if you love him so much, maybe you should know what he's thinking."

Izzy narrowed her eyes, "What are you-"

"I need you to be someone who treats him nicely." Clary said flatly, seemingly not very tired anymore. "He's a nice guy and doesn't deserve to be walked all over-"  
Isabelle could hardly believe her ears. Clary and her had grown pretty close and now suddenly she was deciding to be unsupportive? "What do you think I'm going to do to him? Leave him hurting like all the other guys-"  
"Yes, Izzy!"  
"Simon is different! He makes me feel differently. I feel like he's changed my life."  
"You don't like change, Iz, I know you." Clary sounded cold and her eyes were dark.  
Isabelle was defensive now. And when she became defensive, there was no stopping what came out of her mouth, "You're just jealous. You're angry that he wants to spend more time with me. That he loves me more than he loves you-"  
Clary laughed bitterly, "Last I checked, people typically have more ex-boyfriends/ex-girlfriends rather than ex friends. I'm just saying that if it came down to the two of us...he wouldn't cut me out of his life."  
Isabelle felt tears prickling in her eyes. She had never had a girl friend besides Clary, but she guessed that they typically were not this...rude. "You can put me at the top of your list of ex friends, then." She gathered her coat and purse, "I thought friends were supposed to support each other, regardless of the situation. I assume that you gave Simon a similar lecture. Maybe once he realizes that you're not giving him the support he has given you for years," Izzy's voice shook as she breathed in deeply, "You will be the one he cuts loose."

_**...**_

Simon could not believe his luck. His girlfriend was barging into his bedroom at one o'clock in the morning and she was angry. Great. Just what he needed: an angry best friend and an angry girlfriend.

"What is the ring for, Simon?" Isabelle demanded. She was standing at the foot of his bed, arms crossed, expression darkened.

Simon sat upright immediately, "Iz, you're confused and your exhaust is making you even more confused. Go to bed and we will talk about it tomorrow-"

"There might not be a tomorrow; the Institute could explode while we're sleeping, but we'll never know-"

He laughed, "You're being a bit dramatic-"

"I'm not dramatic." She cried, tears spilling out of her eyes, "This whole thing with the ring and the dinner - you're moving too fast for me." Izzy looked conflicted and she took a shaky breath before continued, "I feel like you're driving way past the speed limit and you haven't given me enough time to buckle my seatbelt."

The whole room stopped and for a moment, it was just them. There was no impending future, or draining, tragic past. The moment was theirs and Simon was determined to set things right before it was too late.

He sighed, "It was my grandmother's."

Isabelle's expression shifted from anger to confusion, "What?"

"The ring." Simon continued slowly, "It was handed down to my father when he wanted to propose to my mother. She was supposed to give it to me when I found the perfect girl, but because I left and can't see her anymore, I received it it little bit earlier." He looked towards his nightstand, where the ring box was resting next to his glasses, "I let Clary tease me about it for a short while, but then her words really hit me. I mean, a month ago, you were sure. You knew that you wanted to share your life with me. But now, you're freaking out, Iz, and and I haven't even popped the question. I wasn't going to until I knew for sure." His voice cracked when more tears streamed down down her cheeks, "And I thought I knew, but now I'm not so sure."

She looked away as her cheeks began to burn, "I'm not questioning our love, Simon because I know that you love me and I sure as hell know that I love you-"

"Then why are you so scared?"

"_I'm not scared!_" Isabelle nearly shouted. She quieted down to a whisper, which Simon was barely able to hear, "I just worry that I made a bad decision in bringing you back. As shadowhunters, we're not supposed supposed to worry before battles; we're supposed to go in with confidence, even if it means we might not see our loved ones again. We get married and have kids younger than the age mundanes typically do because we don't know if we're going to see each other again after a war." Her voice was stronger now, "I don't want to lose you, Si. But I don't want to be a widow before I hit my twenties." She sounded breathless, but Simon couldn't blame her. It seemed that that had been something she had wanted to get off of her chest for a while.

"Isabelle, I worry that whenever you go to get us coffee some mornings, you will run into a demon and you won't come back. But knowing that we might not get tomorrow, doesn't make me want to cower away." Simon smiled, "It makes me want to love you harder." He continued on, knowing that what he said next may or may not be taken lightly, "The ring is a gift and it doesn't mean anything-"  
Isabelle looked uncomfortable, "It doesn't?  
"I mean, it does, it's just that...You didn't listen to her, did you? Izzy..." His voice trailed off as it filled with hurt.  
"It's just that you're so different from all the other guys-" She started.  
"Can't that be a good thing?"  
"I want to take the ring to prove Clary wrong, but I can't just take it because of something that she said-I don't know, Simon...it's just too much right now. I'm sorry." Her voice cracked, "I'm sorry."  
"Izzy-" He started to get up, but she was already pushing through the door.  
"I have to go."

And with that, Isabelle was gone...and Simon was alone again.

_**...**_

**it's been over two months since I last updated and I feel so, so bad, but I'm also so, so busy and it's really hard to say on top of this story when I do have more important things going on in my life.**

**I will try to update regularly, but unfortunately, I can make no promises.**

**thank you for sticking with me,**

**-H.**


	11. No True Loss

**BTA, I am soooo sorry for not updating for two entire months! I swear that I had good reasoning (though, you are not here to read about that…)!**

**So, while I was away and not updating this story, I experienced many things that have changed my perspective on these characters, so if this chapter seems very raw and emotionally messed up, than I am sorry. But I have decided to change everything and now this is the way it is going to be…  
Enjoy!x**

_**...**_

"_**Laughter is poison to fear." **_

― _**George R.R. Martin**_

_**...**_

Isabelle was not angry. How could she be when she had been the one to storm out of the room. She was disappointed, mainly with herself and how she had reacted. It was a kind gesture, Simon offering her the jewelry and Isabelle had ruined the event by over thinking and being dramatic. As if that was not enough, she even admitted to not being confident in their future relationship. She tried to assure herself that everything would be okay because she loved Simon and she would definitely go back to him because Isabelle would have to be dead before she lived without him. But it wasn't enough. Her emotions were still rushing through her and making all of her decisions irrational. She was already miles away from the Institute and in Central Park before she finally dropped onto a bench near the pond and began to calm down. Her chest rose and fell violently as she gasped for air, her eyes watering more and more with each racking pain.  
Normally, Isabelle wouldn't be the one to apologize. She always had control over the relationship and she could easily make Simon apologize, but she just felt so bad.  
"Isabelle," Her heart skipped a beat at the sound of her boyfriend's voice. He was standing in front of her, face pale and stony in the moonlight.  
Isabelle was so shocked to see him that she didn't even think about how he got there so quickly. She stood up, her cheeks especially cold in the night breeze with the fallen tears staining her porcelain skin, "Simon, I-"  
"I'm not sure you should be the one who's crying." His voice was light, happy even.  
Izzy shook her head, her gaze not leaving his, "I'm just so upset with myself. I-I freaked out over nothing and might as well have ruined everything-"  
"Isabelle," Simon tried, but she just kept talking and crying over him.  
"I know you probably think that I doubt this-doubt us, but I don't." She sniffed, stepping closer to him so that she could tentatively wrap her arms around his waist and hug him, "I love you, Simon. I am really, really in love with you." Isabelle took in a shaky breath when Simon opened his mouth to respond, "I know...come here." His hands traveled down to her waist and around her thighs so that he could lift her up against him and wrap her legs around his waist, "That ring I almost gave you today has been passed down for years and you rejected it. You rejected me, Isabelle. And I want you to-"  
"Make up for it?" She whispered, eyes widening, "Because I can throw you a huge party and you can do whatever you want - the ring, Simon, I want you to give it to me and I will wear it-"  
"Isabelle," Simon's eyes sparkled strangely even though the moon was behind him, and Isabelle was briefly reminded of a faerie's maniacal grin. Her mind switched back over to the fact that he was forgiving her so easily, "Aren't you mad at me, or insulted, _anything?_ And why do you keep calling me 'Isabelle'-" She was cut off when he pressed his lips to hers. Izzy let out a small cry of surprise that was immediately turned into a loud moan of pleasure when he pushed her back onto the bench and moved on top of her. His hands explored her body, none too gently, which was something she noticed right away. Every other time they had had sex, Simon was incredibly soft, but now he was rough and something about the way he growled when he touched her just seemed off.  
"Simon, wait-" But her whisper ended in a soft gasp when he infiltrated her. His breaths were harsh against her neck, and heat instantly spread throughout her body. But it wasn't the usual feeling he gave her that typically brought her pleasure; it was a burning heat, burning to the brink of pain. Izzy felt like her body was on fire. When she came, she screamed as the burning erupted into molten lava, spilling over her insides and throughout her veins.  
"_Simon!_" She pushed him away hard, gasping with pain. Her cheeks were red and she clutched her arms around her middle in an attempt to relieve some of the scorching she felt, but to no avail.  
"What's wrong, Isabelle?" Simon's face was hard, eyes cold. His tone was not concerned at all, but, much to Isabelle's surprise, humored. "Does it hurt?" He spat out, disgusted.  
Izzy cowered away from her boyfriend, eyes rapidly filling with tears, "_What is wrong with you?_"  
Simon stood up, but as he did so, his clothes and...appearance seemed to fade away and blend into the shadows until there was a taller, familiar figure standing before her.  
Isabelle's eyes darkened with disbelief, "_Meliorn._"  
The faerie grinned wickedly and Izzy noticed that he was slightly translucent, "Did you miss me?"  
"You're dead." Izzy whimpered, "Alec killed you - _you're dead._"  
"I am." He pulled her skirt back down to cover her legs and she shivered at how cold and feathery his touch felt, "But the Queen had one last request and, me being her knight, of course she asked me to do it. I mean, it only makes sense that she would seek revenge. Your brother killed me and the Seelie Queen was left hurt, and most importantly, furious. So what better way to punish Alexander Lightwood than to hurt him?" His eyes glowed bright in the darkness, piercing Izzy's eyes with a blinding gaze, "The death of his loved one should do the trick." His form began to fade out again and Isabelle's heart lurched with a feeling she knew all too well: fear. She leapt up from the bench, the pain in her body already starting to clear, "What the hell did you do to me?"  
In his last moments, Meliorn's lips pulled into a nasty smirk, "You'll have a few months, maybe, before your body _really_ begins to die...it'll be slow...and painful." He blinked, "I'm almost sorry that I have to do this because I really did enjoy our times spent together."  
And with that, he had vanished into thin air, leaving Isabelle, alone and stung in the middle of the park.  
_**...**_  
Isabelle awoke with a start, the sheets tangled tangled around her body, damp with sweat. Her chest was aching and when she looked down, she saw why: her ruby pendant was pulsing and burning into her skin. Izzy grasped it, wincing when it burned her and pulled it over her head, tossing it onto her blankets at the foot if her bed, where it started to calm down. She felt a sense of relief, knowing that the previous night had merely been a dream...or at least, she hoped so-  
"Izzy?" Isabelle felt a surge of comfort swarm through her body at the sound of her boyfriend's voice. She smiled warmly at him, subconsciously hoping that her hair wasn't entirely messed up from sleeping on it, "Good morning."  
"It's very far off from that, actually." He stepped into her bedroom, closing the door behind him before she had a chance to ask what he meant by that, "Are you alright? I mean, last night was a little-"  
Izzy shook her head, "I hardly remember it." She tried to sound reassuring, but it was the truth. The only thing she remembered was her hauntingly realistic dream and a little bit of their fight, but nothing in between that, like getting ready for bed, or going to sleep.

It was oddly concerning.  
"Is that your way of asking me to put it behind us?" Simon slipped into the bed beside her, "Because I feel like we should talk about it-"  
"I agree." Isabelle turned towards him and frowned when she saw the worry flickering within his chocolate orbs, "What's wrong?"  
"Is that a hickey?" His fingers brushed over her collarbone, which was greatly exposed due to her scooping tanktop. Izzy looked down to see a large, red mark right where his fingers had touched. Her mind immediately went back to her dream, but she instantly dismissed the vivid thought and brought her attention back to her boyfriend and shook her head, "I think there was a demon nearby right before I woke up because my pendant was going crazy-"  
"In the Institute?" Simon asked, voice doubtful. He waved her off when she tried to protest, "You've slept through most of the day and that has allowed me plenty of time to think about what I'm going to say to you later on." He stood up off the bed and held his hand out to her, "Let's go out and while we're out, we can talk."  
Isabelle stared at his hand for a moment, remembering how gently it had caused her great pleasure only a few weeks before. She would give almost anything to feel worshipped by him again after how horribly the 'Simon' in her dream had treated her, "Simon." She whispered softly, "I really, really want you right now."  
Shock seemed to render him speechless for a moment, but then he blinked and frowned, "Not everything can be solved with sex, Isabelle-"  
Izzy cringed, "That's not what I meant. I just...I had a nightmare last night and I'm really freaked out and I just…" There were tears in her eyes and she looked up at him through her lashes, eyes pleading.  
"Iz, you know we have a lot to discuss-"  
"And we can do it anywhere if you just give me this one thing!" She promised him.  
He narrowed his eyes, "Isabelle, _no._" Simon said, tone final and eyes dark. It hurt, but Izzy understood, suddenly feeling very embarrassed about her ridiculous request.

"Okay." She sat up and breathed out, still feeling very rattled from her very evocative dream, "I feel like we're being too unrealistic about each other. We're teenagers and we're in love and we don't like listening to what other people have to say about us. That doesn't always end well, Simon."

He nodded slowly, "I get it...So, you're not _doubting_...us, you just want our relationship to grow to be more serious before you can be completely positive about-" Simon cut himself off when his eyes traveled to her chest area again, "I'm sorry, that _really _looks like a hickey."

"It's not a hickey." Isabelle insisted, starting to become frustrated with his lack of focus, "Simon, pay attention!" She glared at him, "I'm trying to be more serious."  
"Oh, so I was right." He said it more like a statement, rather than a question.  
"Yes."

"But isn't marriage serious?"

Isabelle weighed her thoughts in her head for a moment before responding, "Not if the relationship prior to the proposition of commitment isn't serious."

"We _are_ committed to each other, though, right?" Simon asked as if he already knew the answer.

"Of course we are." She confirmed defensively.

"That hickey is telling me otherwise." Simon looked away, but Isabelle pulled him down on top of her body, wrapping her legs around his waist to lock him in their close proximity, "Then give me a hickey to claim your commitment to me."

His brows furrowed as he hesitated, "Are we done talking?"

She shrugged, "I _want_ to be done."

Simon grinned, "Okay."

_**...**_

"_Are you being serious?_" Isabelle nearly shrieked. Her expression detained any excitement, but her eyes were alight with a cautious joy, "Magnus, please tell me you're not lying."

Magnus held Clementine away from the young shadowhunter, "Well, since you don't seem to be believing me, I guess I'll ask Alec's parents to -"

"Of course, I'll watch her!" Izzy flung herself at the warlock, narrowly missing jarring contact with the baby in his arms. She pulled back, smiling brightly at Clementine, "You, Uncle Simon and I are going to have so much fun!"

"Did you just call me 'Uncle Simon'?" Simon appeared in the doorway of the living room, his arms folded across his chest for a more implied look of anger, though his lips twitched to hold off a smile, "Do I look like an uncle to you?"

Laughing, Isabelle took Clementine from Magnus and then placed her in her boyfriend's arms, "You look more like a daddy."

Magnus raised an eyebrow as the couple smiled at each other, "I hope you two aren't planning anything too soon."

"Planning _what_ too soon?" Alec walked into the room, his face lighting up when he saw his daughter and his fiancé, "What are we planning?"

Isabelle winked at Simon, even though he shook his head, knowing exactly what she was about to do and thinking that it was a very bad idea. She ignored his warning glance and turned to her brother, grinning wickedly, "We're planning my baby shower."

Alec's face paled greatly and his jaw dropped, "_Your what?_"

Izzy took Clementine back from Simon, who immediately covered his face with his hands, "You and Magnus inspired my boyfriend and I-"

"_Simon!_" Alec turned on the other guy, face bright red with anger, "I swear on the angel-"

Izzy grabbed his arm when he took a step towards her boyfriend, "It's not his."

"_What?_" Everyone screeched so loudly at the same time, Clementine startled in Izzy's arms and started to cry.

"I mean, I'm not pregnant." Isabelle laughed, hugging Clementine to her chest, "Aww, I'm sorry. Please don't cry."

"_'Please'_ doesn't work with seven month olds." Magnus said, slightly amused by the shadowhunter's failed attempts at soothing the baby. He handed her a warm bottle and then nodded to Alec, "Are you ready to go?"

Alec nodded, still eyeing Simon suspiciously, "Yeah..."

Magnus began to pull him out of the room, but he looked back at the couple and called over his shoulder, "Remember that she only likes her milk warm. Call us if you need anything!"

Izzy nodded, "I know, I know." She turned to Simon when her brother had left with his fiance, "Simon, we should go to the park!"

Simon raised his eyebrows at her curiously, "Central Park?" He chuckled when her expression darkened, "I guess we can; if you're over your whole...spill with my sister and that duck-"

"Simon, shut up!" She growled, covering Clementine's ears, "We're doing it for the baby." Her eyes sparkled as she smiled brightly at him, "Just like you would do anything for me, right?"

Simon rolled his eyes, but he smiled right back at her, "Of course I would, love."

_**...**_

**I just added the last part randomly, so if it seems random, then that's because it is!  
Thank you so much for reading! Remember to please leave a review to let me know what you think of this fanfiction so far and also to tell me if there is anything specific that you want to see!**

**Thank you again,**

**-H.**


	12. Ave Atque Vale

_**I've been dreading this for sometime, though I denied it ever actually happening...**_

_**So, as you may have guessed, I have decided not to continue this story. It is just so, so, so hard for me to pick up where I've left off because I don't even know what I want to do anymore. As much as I enjoyed what I was writing at first, I really, really dislike it at this point and do not see it going anywhere.**_

_**I never intended to make this oneshot into a longer story, but I succumbed to many of your requests for me to do so, and that just proves that I need to do more of what makes me comfortable. Despite how much I love hearing from everyone, I also need to think about what I want to do and not just what other people want me to do.**_

_**So, I'm sparing you the trouble of reading through whatever crappiness I could have ended up publishing and I'm deciding to no longer update this story. I will, however, keep it up in case you want to come back to it :)**_

_**Who knows? Maybe one day, I will be super interested in this FanFic again and I will want to update it!**_

_**But, unfortunately...that day is not today :(**_

_**BUUUUT...**_

_**I am still writing FanFiction (apart from Stop and Stare).**_

_**I will be doing another story (this one more centered around Clace and Sizzy), slightly AU. And I am not entirely sure when it will be published, as I am still working out plot details. I am definitely way more excited about this story and I think you all will like this one much more!**_

_**With that said, goodbye to No More Broken Possibilities...and hello to...whatever it is that I have in store you you!**_

_**Thank you all for sticking with me and I sincerely hope you are able to understand why I have decided to discontinue this Fic.**_

_**Feel free to message me with any questions and requests. I will get back to you as soon as I can!**_

_**Thank you so much for reading!**_

_**-H.**_


End file.
